Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo

We are enjoying our trip to El Portillo en Las Terrenas. Beautiful beach, crystal blue. Pools are great, 3 to choose from. We got lucky and our room faced the smaller and less crowded pool. It was great and my girls had a blast. We also loved the water park for my youngest. One of my girls was not feeling so great and Yohania was awesome!!! She recommended a few things that might help, a tea with mint and honey, a cough drop. She was so attentive and so helpful! I could tell she is genuine and lives what she does. Enjoyed our time and hope to c9me back with more family!!

We stayed at this resort as a family—my wife, my daughter, and I—and overall, we had a good time. I’m giving it four stars. There were many things we genuinely enjoyed. The resort offers nice entertainment for kids, including splash areas and other fun spots, which made the trip especially enjoyable for our daughter. The beach was absolutely gorgeous, with stunning coral reefs, and the location itself is truly amazing. The food was good, and the rooms—although a bit outdated—were clean, and the housekeeping was consistently well done. One small suggestion would be to include some light snacks in the minibar for quick bites in the evening without needing to leave the room. However, the biggest issue we faced was with the loungers, both at the pool and on the beach. Many guests would reserve them early by placing towels and then leave for hours, making it hard for others to find a spot, even when loungers were sitting unused. It would be great if the resort introduced a policy allowing staff to remove towels from unattended loungers after 15 minutes and place them in a designated area. That would really help solve the problem and make things fair for everyone. Overall, it was a pleasant stay, and with a few improvements, the experience could be even better.

The hotel is advertised as a 5-star property, but expectations should be adjusted to a 3-star level of service and amenities. While the hote is all-inclusive, it is limited to the buffet restaurant only. Access to the themed restaurants (French, Italian, Brazilian, Mediterranean) requires a reservation, and guests are limited to just one reservation during a 3-day weekend stay. You could, however, pay out of pocket for the rest of the days to dine at theme restaurants but that wasn’t possible either. The hotel prioritizes group bookings made through travel agencies, allowing those guests to secure theme restaurant reservations prior to arrival. Meaning guests who are already checked in may find that reservations are fully booked. If you check in on a Thursday and try to book a restaurant for the weekend, availability will be blocked due to giving group reservations scheduled to arrive on Friday. In effect, guests who have not yet arrived are given priority over those already staying at the hotel and no accommodations are made. In short, there are better stays in Terrenas.