Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda - Hyatt Inclusive Collection - All Inclusive

Guest Reviews from Our Customers

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9731 reviews

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  Staff are excellent, we loved the coffee choices!

  Fabulous break we loved our time here and hope to return soon! Amazing pool bar staff, we loved the little trams and the drivers were excellent, very fun!! We visited most of the other hotels during our 2 weeks stay. We liked the Starbucks at Punta Cana lobby and the shops in the village, although pricey were nice to browse and buy souvenirs. We liked the ice cream and snacks at The Truck. The sports bar was always cool and refreshing and great to grab a coffee and snacks. I liked venturing to the coffee shop at Ambar, didn’t find this until week 2 but was amazing. I travelled with 15, 12 and 6 year old and something for all ages. We didn’t use the kids club so cannot comment on that. Our favourite restaurant was the Mongolian followed closely by the Greek. We didn’t use the beach due to the seaweed and we did get bites so make sure to pack your sprays and deterrents. I think we would love to return in the future for a shorter break. The overall shout out goes to the entertainment and cleaning teams, the rooms were kept superb and I cannot fault the overall staff service everywhere we went it was great. Thank you for a lovely holiday

  Sep 07, 2026
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  Lovely stay

  Having just returned from 11 nights in the Bahia Principe Esmeralda I wanted to take 2 minutes to write a quick review. We are a family of four, travelling from the UK. Before leaving we had read some of the reviews and, as is sometimes the case, we were a little worried, but we didn't need to be. The staff were friendly and helpful. Our room was bright, clean and relatively recently renovated. There air conditioning was not freezing cold but was cold enough to cool the room to 20 degrees. The blackout blind was effective and the rooms were very quiet at night once the entertainment finished. The pool area was really nice and the facilities there were always very clean. Sometimes it was busier than others, but never too busy. It would have been helpful to have had more parasols as otherwise in the midday sun it was a little exposed, but we normally managed to get one. We had good food in our time there. We visited a couple of the a al carte restaurants which were as nice as these normally tend to be. My children prefer to choose their own food at the buffet anyway and Miguel in the buffet was helpful with the coeliac in our group. There was entertainment every night and it took us a couple of days to realise that if you weren't keen the entertainment at the Esmeralda one night, you could catch the free shuttles to the other hotel areas. The beach is public so you will be approached but you can avoid that by staying in the hotel area. And the seaweed makes bathing less appealing, although some others braved it. A special mention goes to Ada in the reception who went the extra mile to help us with a missing mobile phone. People's experiences will differ but we had a great time!

  Sep 06, 2026
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  Don’t bother!!! Go somewhere cheaper!!

  Having just returned from this hotel I can honestly say Never again!!! Considering this family holiday cost over £7500 it did not deliver the 5 star treatment it so advertised. The food is mediocre at best especially the buffet which was often bland, repeated items and cold. The variety was lacking, and often the plates were dirty and cutlery missing from tables or tables not cleaned properly. Some staff at the buffet were quite rude and often greeted you with an attitude clearly not wanting to be there. The à la carte restaurants were also a total let down with food often being inedible and not something I would expect from a supposed high end restaurant. During the trip I became quite unwell suffering with diarrhoea for more than 5 days. I visited the medical site and was taken to hospital where I was told I had a bacterial infection in my stomach. I could only have picked this up at the hotel as that is the only place I ate and drank. One evening I witness a staff member top up the slush cocktail machine up with water from a tap at the main pool bar!!! 😱I am currently on two lots of antibiotics and other prescribed medication from the hospital. Thank goodness for travel insurance I dread to think what that would have cost me on top of the holiday price. The staff at the quieter pool bar Elvis and Angel seemed only interested in serving anyone who spoke Spanish often laughing and joking with them and making larger drinks for them. When myself or my child went to the bar we were greeted with rudeness and a lack of hospitality it was very clear there was favouritism of certain guests. The room we stayed in was ok but for two nights had a problem with cockroaches of which I rang the concierge about. Someone came to spray the room but left two roaches there one of which was encrusted on the floor, so had clearly been there a while. Overall I would never return to this resort or hotel again and it has definitely put me off the all inclusive aspect of holidays for future holidays!

  Aug 30, 2026
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  Family Vacation at Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda – Amazing Staff, but Some Important Improvements Needed

  We stayed at Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda for a 6-day family vacation, and overall, we had a wonderful experience at the resort. However, there were a few issues that I feel are important to mention, particularly regarding the flight package and some safety concerns at the resort. Our trip unfortunately started with a very disappointing and unexpected issue regarding the flight and accommodation package we booked. We booked our flight together with the hotel as a vacation package, but it was not made clear to us that our airline tickets were Basic Fare, which did not include checked luggage or even a carry-on — only one small personal item per passenger. For a family of four travelling internationally for six days, this was a very unpleasant surprise. We only discovered this when we arrived at the airport for our departure flight to Punta Cana. We had four carry-on bags and ended up paying approximately $500 CAD extra for baggage. This was a significant unexpected expense at the very beginning of our vacation. I strongly believe that the baggage restrictions and fare type should be clearly highlighted during the package booking process, so families know exactly what is and is not included before purchasing. Thankfully, once we arrived at Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda, our experience became much more positive. The staff throughout the resort were absolutely wonderful — friendly, welcoming, helpful, and always ready to assist. A special thank you to Luis and Alexa at the front desk for their kindness and assistance, and to Victor from Room Service for his excellent service. A big thank you also goes to the Entertainment Team. They brought so much energy and fun to the resort and helped create a great vacation atmosphere for families. Their activities and enthusiasm added a lot to our overall experience. We also truly appreciated the housekeeping team, all the bartenders, buffet staff, and the teams at the à la carte/fine-dining restaurants. I don't want to list too many individual names because I would hate to accidentally leave someone out. Everyone we interacted with was friendly, hardworking, and made our family feel welcome and comfortable. There are, however, some points regarding safety that I believe the resort needs to take seriously and improve. As a family resort, guest safety should always be a priority. We noticed some areas and situations during our stay that could potentially present safety concerns and would benefit from better attention, maintenance, or precautions. These points did not take away from the kindness of the staff, but I believe they should be addressed to help prevent accidents and provide families with a safer and more comfortable experience. Overall, we enjoyed our family stay at Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda and are very grateful to the wonderful staff who helped make our vacation memorable. My main recommendations would be to provide much clearer information about airline fare classes and baggage allowances when selling flight-and-hotel packages, and to give additional attention to safety measures throughout the resort. Regards, Mira Nicola

  Aug 24, 2026
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  Extremely Disappointing and Misleading Booking Experience

  Extremely Disappointing and Misleading Booking Experience I booked our hotel stay including our flights directly through the Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda website, trusting that the booking process would clearly explain the conditions and limitations of the flight tickets. During the booking process, I was shown a disclaimer stating that the airfare did not include checked baggage. I understood that and accepted it. What was NOT made clear to me was that the fare also did not include a carry-on bag and that we were only permitted a personal item. This became a major problem when we arrived at the airport. We were traveling for a six-day hotel stay, yet the airline ticket purchased through the hotel booking allowed only a small personal item. A normal carry-on suitcase was not included. This is a very significant restriction, especially for a family traveling for almost a week. The first time I became fully aware of this was at the airport, when we were already committed to the trip. At that point, we had no realistic alternative. We had to pay for the carry-on baggage at the airport, and the additional cost was almost CAD $500. That is an outrageous and completely unexpected additional expense. My issue is not simply that baggage costs extra. I understand that airlines have different fare categories and that checked baggage may not be included. My issue is that the booking process clearly disclosed the exclusion of checked baggage, but did not make the equally important exclusion of carry-on baggage clear enough for us to understand what we were actually purchasing. There is a huge difference between: - “Checked baggage is not included,” and - “You are allowed only a personal item and must pay separately for a standard carry-on.” A reasonable customer would expect that if checked luggage is excluded, they can at least bring a standard carry-on unless explicitly told otherwise. Instead, we discovered the restriction only when we reached the airport, when the decision was essentially no longer avoidable. This turned what was supposed to be a relaxing family vacation into an unnecessarily stressful and extremely expensive experience before we had even reached the hotel. Bahia Principe needs to take responsibility for how these flight restrictions are presented during the booking process. When customers purchase a combined hotel-and-flight package directly through your website, the hotel should make the baggage allowance unmistakably clear before payment, not leave customers to discover critical restrictions at the airport. I strongly recommend that anyone considering booking a flight-inclusive package through Bahia Principe carefully verify the airline, fare class, personal-item dimensions, carry-on allowance, checked baggage allowance, and all additional baggage costs directly with the airline before completing the purchase. In my case, what appeared to be a straightforward booking resulted in almost CAD $500 in unexpected baggage charges, along with considerable frustration for my family. I expected much better transparency from a major hotel brand. This experience seriously damaged my confidence in booking flight-inclusive packages through Bahia Principe, and I hope the hotel changes the way these restrictions are disclosed so other families do not have to learn about them at the airport, when it is already too late.

  Aug 23, 2026