Bahia Principe Explore La Romana

People not telling you but I'm telling you now! We're a group of 9 peoples during June 2026 The reason to give 3 stars because beach had jelly fish and mud, we come for the beach. This is natural and hotel nothing to do with it. This place is not for you if you are beach lover. No one in the beach and empty. Most people in swimming pool. The swimming pool where the guest come to drinks and pee pee . This resort combined 3 hotels 1- Bahia principe Explore La Romana 2- Bahia Grand Romana 3- Bahia Luxury Bouganville Romana Free wifi and safety box The beach in Romana had lot jelly fish and resorts just put a sign in life guard station without warnings peoples about Jelly fish and the beach is mud because come from river close by. Apply Vinegar to your skin if Jelly fish bite you. But you can walk about 10 minutes to left side hotel passed Bahia Grand/Luxury Romana hotels or ask Life guards a public beach without Jelly fish and clear water, free public beach chairs. and see a sign "Break water" where you can swim. Or you make a trip to Bayahibe town, Saona island and nice/clear water local beach The food in buffet from good to excellent (recommended) . not too good for a la cart restaurants The services are mixing if with tips or without tips, recommended tips to them because staffs earning less, credit go to waiter Francisco for outstanding service with smiles Also tips for bus driver for 80 minutes (each way) driving from airport to hotel and hotel to airport and tips for room cleaning too. The rooms are big and clean also beers and pops stock up every day. The animation team and night entertainment are outstanding with Micheal Jackson and night beach party (wear white clothes)

We went to this resort for 2 weeks--April 29 to May 13. It was a quick solution since our Cuba trip was cancelled. The resort grounds are beautiful and well-maintained. Our room was super clean and they gave us a corner room that was excellent--and second floor as we requested. Food was fantastic--but the desserts and sides became mundane after a week and not much change in variety. Our A/C wasn't working from the start--they sent an interpreter with the repairman--he said it was fine and didn't need fixing (with it running 24/7 our room was always 28C at 5pm and the A/C would chug away ALL night for it to FINALLY get to 24C by 6am....and then the sun would come up and our room temp would go up too! Two days before we were to leave--front desk called to see if there were still problems with the A/C!! Bit late to call by the end of the 2 weeks! Second day of vacay--we were left with NO towels. Friendly reminder at the front desk that we would like towels--the rest of the vacay we were always left with plenty each day. Biggest disappointment was the ocean. Green, grungy, murky every day for the 2 weeks. Someone said walk to the left on the beach for 10 minutes and it gets cleaner--Ha! It was actually DIRTIER!!! Jellyfish every day. We went out kayaking to the breakwater--it was just as filthy out there too. Splashes of water on our arms--left our skin with a 'sticky film' and itchy. Only the desperate went in swimming! Turns out there's a river that dumps into the bay--river runs all through the DR so you can imagine what gets dumped into it from run-off from those small villages and farms along the way. Also the resort sells off day passes to locals on the weekends--they start coming in at 10am and are gone by 5pm. We've got no problems with locals enjoying their own country/beaches--but they literally take over like they have preference over everyone else. They don't know buffet etiquette--they take plate fulls of food (the amount of leftover food they left on their tables was disgusting!)--push and shove in line--no respect for the elderly or disabled vacationers. It was like going to a buffet with 13/14 year olds that haven't eaten for weeks! They let their kids take over the adult whirlpool with toys and wild playing--again no respect for other tourists who want to sit and enjoy quietly (there is a kids pool/whirlpool on the resort). Parents are often not even around supervising their kids. We are not anti-kids either (raised 6 of our own and have 9 grandkids). Since we didn't go swimming in the ocean--we would spend half an hour in the whirlpool twice each afternoon. On our first day back home I had to go to see my doctor because I was in severe pain (it was murderous on the flight back home--I could hardly stand because of the pain in my back). Yep! I had a severe UTI and kidney infection--several types of bacteria were present in my urine (first UTI in 47 years!)--put on anti-biotics--took almost 3 weeks to clear up properly. Hubby also got a skin bacteria. Doctor said it would have been contacted in the whirlpool (maybe that scum we saw floating on it on our last day wasn't from a pina colada after all!) Would we go back--NEVER!

Overall, my stay was decent, but I don’t think this resort offers good value for the price. The rooms are acceptable but need renovation, especially the poor soundproofing—you can easily hear outside noise, people walking in the room above, and even housekeeping during the day. As a professional chef, I found the food disappointing. Most of the meat and seafood seemed low quality and frozen, and many dishes were overly salty. The entertainment team was excellent, with great daytime activities and evening shows. The beach is beautiful and well maintained, but the sea was the biggest disappointment. Due to the nearby river mouth, the water is cloudy, sometimes has an unpleasant smell, and doesn’t provide the clear Caribbean experience I was expecting. Finally, many staff members seemed unfriendly and rarely smiled. Overall, despite a few positives, I don’t think I would choose to stay at this resort again.

This was our first time to the Caribbean after travelling around the world at various other locations. The location is very isolated and nothing around so don’t expect to go off walking around the shops at any time. The beach is often murky, some days worse than others, from the river running alongside and feeding into the beach of hotel. We saw jelly fish, pufferfish and angel fish in the water. If your after Caribbean turquoise water this is not the hotel for you. You can swim in it as we and many others did. The hotel itself exceeded my expectations after other reviews I had seen. Every day we had clean towels in room and fridge restocked with Fanta, coke, beer and water. The maids work hard to keep your room clean My son is a fussy eater and every meal time he found plenty to eat and often sampled food he wouldn’t normally- the food here has been exceptional. So much variety and always plenty of fresh fruit, salads, hot food, desserts, bread etc. cocktails served in a pinapple (Pina colada) on the beach is $5 and worth every penny the best I’ve ever had- made to order. Coco loco with or without alcohol is another must try cocktail. We ate in the Italian and Mediterranean à la carte restaurants during our stay and really enjoyed the food here. My son had a cowboy steak at $42, that wasn’t part of the AI. The main Buffett restaurant is busiest around 8pm and at lunch time offers a full dinner menu. The snack restaurant next to/on the beach was great for a simple lunch. The entertainment team work hard all day to provide something to do or watch. Evening entertainment was great. Circus, White beach party, karaoke, magic show, all very entertaining. The pool area tends to be difficult to get a bed past 7.30am but beach has more options. Swim up bar was very nice as so hot and always in the pool. Bring plenty of suncream as it’s super expensive at the hotel. $50 a bottle. The tui rep is more expensive than hotel rep by the restaurant, so check out both prices before booking. All staff were friendly never rude, always happy to help. We have nothing to actually complain out. Loved every second and already planning on returning with the rest of the family. The plug needed is a 2 flat pin plug. A few shops are the hotel for snacks, rum, gifts, but are on the expensive side. US Dollars is used everywhere barely heard Dominican Peso being used. Pool towels provide with daily change so no need to bring them. Hair dryer, iron, ironing board, safe all available in room. Visited Saona Island, went to Scape Park which is a must if you have teenagers the zip lines are great and Monkeyland. All such amazing memories to keep for ever. If I was to make 1 criticism it would be breakfast time- starts a 7am and most trips pick ups are from 7.15am, I’m sure guests would welcome and earlier opening time to eat before going off for the day. Other than that, we had great time thank you Bahia Principe

This was our first ever Caribbean holiday, and I genuinely can’t speak highly enough of Bahia Principe Grand La Romana. We have had an amazing holiday from start to finish. The staff have been fantastic, the food has exceeded all expectations, and the whole resort has been exceptionally well maintained. One thing that often gets mentioned is the sea. It’s true that it isn’t the crystal-clear turquoise water you might picture when you think of the Caribbean, but we’re not really beach people, so it made very little difference to us. It’s still a lovely stretch of coastline to walk along, especially in the morning or evening. The pool area was excellent. We never struggled to get sunbeds, although I’m an early riser and was usually down there before breakfast. As the holiday went on, the beds were definitely being claimed earlier, so I’d recommend being there by around 7:30am if you want a particular spot. That said, it was nothing like the mad rush you sometimes see at European resorts. The only slight frustration was the number of beds with towels on them that then sat unused for most of the day. If I’m being really critical, the rooms could probably do with a bit of a refresh, but I’m genuinely searching for something objective to mention. They were spotlessly clean every single day, the housekeeping team were incredibly friendly, and the minibar was replenished daily with beer, soft drinks and bottled water. The food deserves a special mention. We have two incredibly fussy eaters in our family, and we had no issues whatsoever. There was an enormous variety every day, which meant I got to try lots of different dishes, while the fussy eaters were more than happy with the freshly made pasta station and other familiar options. There really is something for everyone. We also booked two excursions through TUI. We weren’t overly impressed with the Hacienda excursion, but Saona Island was excellent and definitely worth doing. If we came back, though, I’d probably book through the excursion company based at the hotel rather than TUI, as they were offering the same trips for less money. Overall, this has been an unforgettable first Caribbean holiday. The fantastic staff, excellent food, spotless resort and relaxed atmosphere made it a holiday we’ll remember for a long time. We’d happily return, and I wouldn’t hesitate to give Bahia Principe Grand La Romana a well-deserved 5 out of 5 stars