On my current journey to Punta Cana Dominican Republic I stayed on the Bahia Principe Luxurious Esmeralda lodge. Bahia Principe has fairly a number of accommodations within the Dominican Republic. Those in Punta Cana are all on the identical property. There may be the Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana, Grand Turquesa, Grand Bavaro, Grand Aquamarine, Luxurious Ambar, Luxurious Esmeralda, and The Bahia Principe Fantasia Punta Cana.
After researching these accommodations and among the RUI accommodations which had been subsequent door, we determined to go together with the Bahia Principe Luxurious Esmeralda. The images had been good, the YouTube movies had been constructive and as well as, it was near the seaside and the worth appeared truthful.
Our Room
The Luxurious Esmeralda is without doubt one of the smaller accommodations within the group of the Bahia Principe line up in Punta Cana, however no matter that it does have so much to supply. It has 570 rooms, 5 eating places and three bars, a spa and though the lodge doesn’t point out that it has a gymnasium, there’s one subsequent to the spa that it shares with the Bahia Principe Fantasia. It additionally has 2 swimming pools, a Jacuzzi, in addition to a water park, and giftshops.
We stayed in a Junior Suite Deluxe that got here with both 2 full measurement cover beds or 1 King, however we requested on the entrance desk for a room with 2 beds and one thing on the higher flooring. Every constructing goes as much as 3 flooring and there are not any elevators, so maintain that in thoughts.
We acquired our room with the two cover beds (facet observe: the curtains on the cover doesn’t cowl the complete mattress) it additionally got here with a settee which I’m not positive if it’s a settee mattress or only a common couch. Whereas reserving on the web site it didn’t point out that there was a settee mattress within the room however websites like reserving.com and Expedia mentions a settee mattress, plus I additionally took the freedom of calling to search out out and after being placed on maintain for someday I used to be informed that they do include a settee mattress. Actually, it seemed like an everyday couch to me with detachable cushions. I’m not positive how comfy somebody can be sleeping on it.
There was additionally a a small desk with chairs, a dresser, tv, desk, a closet that had a protected and a pair of bathrobes. There was additionally suppose to be slippers however we didn’t discover any. There have been 2 comforters within the closet as nicely, hangers, a iron and a desk high ironing board. After taking down one of many comforters, I discovered a ball of hair in it, so I requested new ones and used that one for the lavatory window as a result of the curtains for the window weren’t lengthy sufficient. Extra privateness please! 🙂
The lavatory had each a bathe and a separate jacuzzi type tub, a double sink self-importance and the bathroom had it’s personal non-public stall throughout the toilet. The room additionally had a mini fridge loaded with 2 packs of nuts, sodas, 2 cans of beers which had been restocked day by day should you used any however not the nuts. We additionally had a patio with a view of one of many RUI accommodations.
My major points with the room are one, it wasn’t geared up nicely sufficient with electrical shops to cost our gadgets. First we had an issue discovering them, aside from the one subsequent to the lamp on the dresser. After I requested one of many housekeepers he confirmed me one behind the nightstand between the beds and one behind the dresser the place the tv was, each of which you would need to draw the furnishings away from the wall to see. I feel that could possibly be hazardous.
The following factor I discovered a problem with was the tv, I feel for a lodge of that measurement the television was small about 20″ and the channels weren’t that clear and most of them had been in Spanish. I do perceive that Spanish is their major language however it could possibly be combined up extra. Plus, there was no information to let you know the place to search out what so we needed to flip till we discovered one which we had been okay with which turned out to be the cartoon channel. It wouldn’t have been my first selection.
I suppose you possibly saying, we had been there on trip why do we want the television, however there have been occasions earlier than mattress after we chilled and simply wished to look at some television earlier than going to mattress or simply wished to look at it after we weren’t out and about. It wasn’t an enormous deal, nonetheless, nothing to discredit the lodge for. One factor I discovered to be fascinating although is that there have been no wash cloths within the toilet, the small ones, they usually didn’t appear to know what I used to be speaking about.
Eating
So far as eating goes, there are 2 major eating places which serves up incredible buffet meals, Los Geranios and Jazmin. Then there’s Takara an oriental restaurant, Bella Italia an Italian restaurant, and Rodizio Arrecife a Brazilian type restaurant positioned by the seaside.
You may go in for dinner on the 2 major eating places and choose from quite a lot of decisions laid earlier than you, every night the employees attempt to combine up the delicacies. My first night, I had a seafood casserole, with fried squid, some pasta, roast fish, and spring rolls, plus there’s all the time fruits, greens, and dessert. Additionally, you will discover meals like pizza, fries, and fried hen. There are waiters within the restaurant who will take your drink orders.
For breakfast I’ve seen boiled eggs each hen and quail, scrambled eggs, corn on the cobb, bacon, French toast, and extra. There’s a smoothie station the place you may go to have your smoothies made simply the way in which you prefer it and similar to for dinner you may request juice, tea, or espresso from the waiter. You may also request sure issues to be cooked as there’s a cooking station there throughout breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The opposite eating places talked about are reservations solely. I didn’t eat on the Bella Italia or the Takara restaurant however we did make a reservation for the Rodizio Arrecife. At this restaurant the service of the meat appears to be the spotlight. The servers takes an enormous skewer or sword of meat to your desk and ask if you need any and if sure they slice a bit of the meat unto your plate. This type of service is named Espeto Corrido. We got a menu with the road up of meats however that night time we didn’t get any hen or sausages, it was 3 rounds of steak. For the 2 of us we solely acquired one plate of facet dish that consisted of a small piece of corn on the cobb, a scoop of rice, some grilled greens stacked on high of one another, a bit of broccoli, and what seemed like a baked potato. I imply that will suffice for one particular person, however for 2, oh no. I didn’t hassle to eat something from the plate. Oh and earlier than that we acquired some fried plantain chips which had been very arduous.
Whereas we waited for the meals we went to the salad bar to get some salad since we weren’t positive what sort of restaurant it was and nobody got here to take our order or something of the kind. Additionally we requested for pina colada and we had been in a position to get them, they tasted good however they couldn’t discover a single straw for us to drink with so we ended up grabbing some spoons from the salad bar. My brother wished to return to the buffet the place we had been consuming for many of the week, however it was near closing time.
Along with the eating places on the Luxurious Esmeralda it’s also possible to make reservations at different eating places on the different Bahia accommodations, the selection of eating places you may ebook can be discovered on the Bahia Principe app.
Leisure
One factor I can say for positive is that staying on the Luxurious Esmeralda you’ll not be simply bored as a result of there’s all the time one thing happening. Throughout the days on the seaside you could find actions like frisbee, jenga, and volley ball. A few of these are prized competitions the place the winner is awarded a prize through the nightly present. At some point whereas sitting on the seaside I used to be requested if I wished to hitch the salsa session, I don’t know what occurred to it although as a result of the employees member by no means got here again. I consider they might not have gotten sufficient members.
Within the afternoons they’ve actions for teenagers like dance classes and clowns, then in a while within the night time, for the adults there’s, signing, dancing, acrobatic reveals, theatrical dance performances and so forth. Throughout sure occasions when it’s simply music enjoying members of the leisure employees would come and seize you to bop and earlier than you understand it there can be a gaggle of individuals doing the bachata or merengue. In addition they have video games for the viewers. On one of many nights we had been there there was a seaside celebration and generally there are different occasions happening on the different accommodations or the Bahia Village that you would be able to attend.
The Seaside
The seaside is shared with all the opposite Bahia Principe accommodations, plus the RIU accommodations. Nonetheless, the areas are sectioned off for who belongs the place. For instance one facet of the seaside had an indication for The Fantasia lodge. Throughout our keep the seaside was not very clear, it was stuffed with sea weeds throughout and the water itself was tough and seemed a bit darkish, it could have been because of the sea weeds.
Whereas lounging on one of many seaside chairs at some point there was a employees with a machine making an attempt to wash up the weeds, which I feel may have been a hazard particularly with youngsters working forwards and backwards. On our final morning there the sand was a lot cleaner however the water seemed darker. That was a flip off for us so we didn’t go into the water in any respect throughout our complete keep.
You can see that there are lots of distributors on the seaside, so be ready to be approached ever so usually about shopping for souvenirs, excursions, or jewellery. One man had a monkey and simply put the monkey on us and requested to carry our telephone, he took our footage after which ordered cash from us and I’m not speaking about $20 both. He wished 6000 pesos which was $111 USD to be actual. I felt like we acquired hustled and I used to be not too completely satisfied about it.
As well as there are additionally water actions like diving, kayaking, snorkeling, and parasailing out there on the seaside for 1 hour and relies on availability.
Extras
We booked our airport pickup and drop off with our lodge room for two folks and the worth wasn’t dangerous in any respect. The corporate utilized by the lodge has a desk on the airport and we acquired a minivan only for the 2 of us to take us to the lodge. The identical firm additionally has a kiosk on the lodge the place we may buy our excursions. We did the Journey Boogies which included us visiting a cave and using ATVs and in addition we selected the Santa Domingo journey. You’ll find out extra about that tour right here.
Once we first arrived on web site as a result of our lodge is within the again by the seaside we had been dropped off on the major lodge Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana. We informed the bellhop the place we wished to go they usually took us there in a cart, the journey was about 5 minutes. The check-in was not too dangerous, we had been introduced with a complimentary beverage. I’m not positive how I felt concerning the concierge who checked us in although, He didn’t appear very pleasant and I couldn’t inform if he had an issue with us or that was simply his character.
After check-in we had been escorted to our room which was not too removed from the foyer and the Jazmin restaurant. The bellhop took our baggage upstairs so at the very least we didn’t should raise them as we stroll up the steps. Trying out was a unique story. The foyer has a big lounge space the place you may sit and luxuriate in espresso and different self serve drinks, there’s additionally a bar there and also you if you wish to you may do some procuring in both the cigar store or the close by present store. There may be additionally a visitor providers desk and a tour desk contained in the foyer.
The lodge additionally has complimentary Wi-Fi which I’d say is so-so. Which means it wasn’t that nice and it wasn’t that dangerous. Whereas laying in mattress we may get some issues completed, like examine our emails and browse the online, examine Instagram and even make video calls, however as I walked in the direction of the patio the sign would get weaker. If you’re on the lookout for higher service the lodge does provide premium wi-fi for a worth.
Every of the swimming pools are massive and are positioned one at every finish of the lodge property and the jacuzzi within the center. Every pool has a swim up bar. The pool closes at round 6pm.
As talked about earlier than you’ll be able to make reservations at different eating places positioned on the different Bahia Principe accommodations on the property. You may also buy groceries on the Bahia Village which is in entrance of the Grand Punta Cana. There may be additionally a tennis court docket and an space that was arrange like an American Ninja park (when you’ve got ever seen the present you’ll perceive) lol, that seemed as if it was closed on the time. There may be additionally a medical facility and a on line casino.
General I actually loved my keep on the lodge and it’s someplace I’d keep once more. To see my video overview of the lodge please click on right here.
