My husband and I arrived in Punta Cana on 07/05/2008. Much to our surprise when entering the Punta Cana Airport we were required to pay a $10 charge per person to enter the country (not a large fee, but something you should know).

We did not book transfers to the hotel on this trip, but we easily found a taxi to transport us to the hotel (approx. 30 minutes) for between $35-$40.

Upon arriving at the hotel we had no problems checking in and were upgraded to the Ambar section of the hotel. We were originally scheduled to staty in the Punta Cana section, but were upgraded for free. This resort is very large (100 Acres or so) and has four different sections within. The sections are Punta Cana, Bavaro, Ambar, and the Golden Principe Club. The Punta Cana and Bavaro sections are pretty much exactly the same. They have all the normal ammenities (pool, buffet, a la carte restaurants, etc). The Ambar is very similar, but is the adults only section. So the entire Ambar section does not have any children (pool, resaurants, lounges, rooms, etc). The Golden Club I believe is there special "top of the line" section. I am not 100% sure what that entails.

Our overall review of this hotel would be that the rooms are very nice (clean, large, and well equipped), the buffets were very large with a big variety (usually enough variety to satisfy everyone) and the food was decent, the beach was beautiful with white sands, clear blue waters and enough chairs and shade for everyone. The pools were large (very warm) and all had easy access to snack bars and drink bars. We went to three of the a la carte restaurants (Medditerranean, Italian, and Gourmet). Thought we though all were good, the Italian was our least favorite.

Final thoughts, there is plenty to do at the resort (though we thoroughly relaxed the whole time). Men will need long pants for all dinners (including the buffets) and shoes or nice sandals. There is a decent language barrier, but can be overcome with persistance ( if you are easily frustrated by this type of thing make sure you have a few key phrases ready to go).

We visited the Bahia Ambar from June 22-29, 2008. This was our 12th visit to Punta Cana and our first stay at the Bahia chain. Most of the resorts we have stayed at in Punta Cana have been five stars, so we had certain expectations going in as far as service, food, etc. We enjoyed a lovely vacation and had a good time, but we will not be returning to the Bahia Ambar. It seems they've bitten off a little more than they can chew and have some work to do before I would truly classify this as a five-star resort.

That said, let the review begin!

Arrival & Flight: Our flight with Air Transat arrived on time and we got through customs and the baggage claim quickly. Everyone on our bus was going to the Bahia Principe so we didn't have to make any stops along the way. The people staying at the Bahia Principe were able to check in on the bus; Ambar guests had to wait until we got to the resort. Once we arrived, we were dropped off at the Bavaro lobby and took a quick shuttle trip over to the Ambar. Check in took a matter of minutes as there were only a handful of people arriving with us. A bellboy accompanied us to our room with our luggage and showed us the safe, a/c, etc.

Rooms: Our room was on the third floor corner of villa 64, #64317. We were pleasantly surprised to find a gift bag contining two Bahia Principe t-shirts and a bottle of rum awaiting us. A maid also showed up within a few minutes of us getting to the room and brought us slippers and bathrobes to use during our stay. The room offered plenty of seating between the couch, small table with two chairs, desk with chair, and another chair with ottoman in the corner. Our king sized bed was quite comfortable and we were happy with the pillows provided so we never made use of the pillow menu offered by the butler service. The plasma tv worked well and had a good selection of English channels to watch. The room was typically cleaned by 2 p.m. each day and the mini-fridge was refilled with a few Presidentes, soft drinks and Pringles (a nice touch!) I think the room could have benefitted from another chest of drawers, but otherwise it was perfect. The bathroom was enormous! We had good water pressure in the shower and the jacuzzi tub filled up quite quickly. There was also a hairdryer (I think 1200 watt) available that did a decent job of drying my hair.

Grounds: Quite mature for such a new resort. Lots of trees, greenery, flowers, etc. Everything was kept very clean. Nothing was more than a five-minute walk from anything else. The Ambar section is very easy to navigate but the main resort next door is absolutely huge. Definitely keep your resort map handy if you venture over there! You can catch a tram to the Bavaro section outside of the Ambar lobby. It's not a very far walk if you miss the tram - maybe 7 minutes or so. I believe the tram service runs until 3 a.m.

Restaurants/Food: One of the major disappointments at this resort. In general, we were quite unimpressed with the Palmyra buffet. Service was brutal and the food was nothing special. We only attempted breakfast twice...getting a cup of coffee was like pulling teeth! They had the usual breakfast offerings of pancakes, fruit, made to order eggs, etc, but the service was so bad that we eventually decided it wasn't worth getting up early for. Dinners weren't much better. Nothing on the buffet was hot - I ate lukewarm veggies, rice, and pasta with my meals when we dined here. The chef's charving station was good and I had some delicious beef there one night, but in general we did not look forward to our dinners here. The gala night on Saturday was probably our best experience in the buffet. There seemed to be a wider selection of foods available and service was as it should be in a five star resort. We were seated by a waiter and our drinks were waiting for us by the time we got back from the buffet. When they asked us to fill out surveys about the resort at the end of our meal, we realized the reason for the sudden change in service.

The pool restaurant, Las Brisas, was our favourite spot for lunch. They didn't have a ton of food to pick from but what they had was good. Hotdogs, burgers, usually a cut of beef or pork, delicious roasted chicken, a nice salad bar, and good pastas with at least two choices of sauce. Service was typically better here, but it could also get very busy and seating was hard to find by mid-afternoon. Ladies, keep in mind that if you eat here you do have to be covered up. A sarong or shorts & a t-shirt is sufficient. I'm not really sure why they are so adament about women being covered up when men are allowed to dine shirtless. Perhaps it's their way of making it up to the men who have to wear long pants and shirts with sleeves to dinner at night?

When we arrived at the Ambar we had three a la carte reservations pre-arranged for us. We ended up rescheduling two of them in order to try the a la cartes next door, and we were unable to make the third one as I was feeling ill that day. The a la cartes that we tried at the Bavaro section were the steakhouse (Garden Grill) and the Barbecue, which is right on the beach. The steakhouse was excellent and was probably the best meal we had all week. I had fork-tender beef tenderloin with the most delicious, buttery mashed potatoes. My husband ordered the rib eye which was tasty but very thin. Their appetizer buffet seemed a little odd with its large selection of roadhouse type foods (nachos with cheese & chili, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, potato skins) but everything we tried was tasty. They also had a soup and salad bar available. The Barbecue restaurant was another winner. The side dishes and salads are served buffet style but you can get pretty much any meat you can think of grilled up at the barbecue stand. They had sausage, ribs, chicken, pork, etc along with a tasty paella. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very nice being right on the beach. Service in both a la cartes was friendly and fast.

The quality of the room service was fine but the menu left a lot to be desired for an adults only resort. Choices were limited to hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, sandwiches (ham & cheese or BLT), roasted chicken, or a fruit plate. Everything came with a heaping pile of french fries (except the fruit plate, I assume). Drinks were not available through room service. When you call to order, they tell you it will take at least 45 minutes for your food to arrive. We ordered room service twice and both times our food was in our room in less than a half hour, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Bars: The bars that we frequented most were the pool bar and lobby bar. The consistency of drinks like pina coladas and bahama mamas were much better at the lobby bar, where they had blenders, but still tasty at the pool bar. The resort needs to have more waitresses working the lobby bar in the evenings. The outdoor seating area was always full (partly because of the lovely breeze out there, partly because smokers could not smoke in the interior bar), yet they only had two waitresses to serve everyone. As such, wait times to order and actually get a drink were long and many people resorted to just going to the bar to get their own drinks. The lobby bar had a pianist playing in the evenings who provided some nice background music. Other reviewers were not kidding when they said this place shuts down at 11 p.m. Literally, the lights start shutting off, the waitresses take your seat cushion, and they empty your drink into a plastic cup. Closing up shop at 11 resulted in a mad dash to the bar around 10:50 each night. After 11 p.m. you can go to the Pueblo Principe square at the front of the resort for drinks, entertainment, and snacks. While we were well aware prior to our visit that everything shuts down at 11 p.m., it was disappointing that patrons of the adults only resort weren't able to sit and enjoy a bit of a later evening at their own resort. Definitely bring some bug spray if you are prone to mosquito bites at home. The noseeums went to town on my lower legs the first night we sat out at the lobby bar. After that I wised up and used the OFF spray that I'd brought from home (thank you to the makers of OFF for coming out with less offensive smelling products!) and our subsequent bar visits were much more comfortable for me.

On our first night we ventured over to the Bavaro section to sit at their outdoor bar. Their patio was very large and there was plenty of seating available. Service was fast and efficient, but be aware that they will ask you to sign your room number when they realize you're from the Ambar. You won't be charged for anything - they just want to track who is going where.

Beach & Pool: The beach was breathtaking and very clean. There were always lots of chairs and palapas available at any time of day. The swimming area was flat-bottomed and a good size. There is a fence of sorts that separates the adults only area from the section that's available for everyone to use. The water was yellow flagged every day that we went down there.

The pool was very nice, but getting a chair after noon was challenging. Some people did head out early in the morning to reserve palapas but chairs were usually readily available until late in the morning. Pickings were slim after that. The pool itself was very clean and never very crowded. The resort did a good job of keeping the area clean; there was always someone walking around picking up empty cups. The washrooms at the pool were also kept impeccably clean. The pool was very quiet - there was no animation team (yay!) but also no music. Sometimes the bartenders had a radio going so you could hear some quiet tunes when you were right at the pool bar, but otherwise it was completely quiet. It was definitely a relaxing environment.

Activities & Entertainment: There were no poolside activities at the Ambar, which was fine by me. We often heard a ruckus coming from one of the pools next door so there was no doubt where to go if you wanted some daytime amusement. We never made it to any of the shows at the Bavaro, either. I believe the shows started at 9 p.m. and included something for the kids before they got to the main show of the evening. One night we did venture over to the Pueblo Principe and the disco. The square was quite busy, as everything at the Bahia closes up at 11 so people from all three sections end up there. I can only imagine how hot and busy it must get over there during peak season. The disco was very busy and very loud. They had a few staff members available to teach us some bachata and meringue dancing, which was fun. Unfortunately they had the strobe lights going a mile a minute and I'm very sensitive to them, so we didn't stay for long.

Tours/Things to Do: Since we've been to Punta Cana so many times, we never bother with any of the organized excursions. The only trip we make each time is to Don Lucas cigars, where we pick up our coffee, rum, and cigars for my husband. They also sell jewellery, artwork, t-shirts, and such. If you decide to visit, look for Kelmin or Rafael - they're great guys who really know their stuff. Round trip transporation is free of charge. You can arrange a visit through guest services, or call Don Lucas directly at [--]. On the topic of cigars, I should mention that the cigar shop at the Ambar is operated by Don Lucas Cigars, so if you choose to purchase cigars there you don't have to worry about their authenticity. Prices at the resort shop are a good 20% higher than at the factory though, so if you plan to purchase more than one or two, I would definitely recommend visiting the factory.

The Bahia resort has a few things on-site to keep you occupied. They have tennis courts, a mini-golf course, and I think you can rent bicycles as well. Unfortunately our one attempt at playing mini-golf didn't work out so well. The kid at the sports equipment hut spent a good five minutes playing on his cell phone before he acknowledged our presence. When we told him we needed clubs and balls for mini-golf, he said we'd have to wait because the four clubs that the resort owned were already in use. Seriously? Four clubs for a resort of this magnitude? Ridiculous! By the time we got to play a round with our friends, it was getting quite hot so we cut our game short. A round of mini-golf isn't going to make or break our vacation, but the lack of equipment and the blase attitude of the attendant didn't make a very good impression on us.

Departure & Checkout: Checkout is at 12 noon and Air Transat wasn't picking us up until 2 p.m., so we left our suitcases with the bellhops and just kept our carryon bags with the essentials (passports, tickets, etc). We hung out at the lobby bar until it was time to go. I never did find out if there were courtesy rooms available so I'm not sure what we would have done if we'd chosen to hang out at the beach until our pickup time. The bus picked us up at the Bavaro lobby on time and we headed back to the airport to endure the 3+ hour wait until our flight left.

Conclusion: The Ambar is a beautiful property, but they have some work to do in their service department before I would truly consider it a five star resort. Service often came without a smile and it didn't seem like most of the staff was very happy to be working there. My husband and I usually tip very generously on our vacations but this was the first time that we came home with almost as big a stack of $1 bills as we had when we left. All things told, we did get what we wanted out of the trip, which was a relaxing week away from home. Unfortunately that week didn't come with first class food and service, but hey, you can't win them all. Hopefully our next trip, lucky #13, will be a winner!

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them - just email me at ginnyfyris@yahoo.ca

upon arrival we got upgraded to ambar, the room was spectacular, marble shower, jacuzzi, stunning! so were the junior suites as we had friends staying in them.
the hotel grounds are huge so much to walk around or catch a little cab, they run constantly.
the beach was stunning the food was amazing the a la carte restaurants wow what can i say.
the pools are lovely, the people are so friendly.
i absolutley loved this holiday,
the only thing i had a problem with was the airport, no aircon!!

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Ambar from June 22nd-29th and we both agree that this is a fabulous resort. We booked the vacation after receiving a recommendation from our travel agent, as well as many reviews from Trip Advisor. Hopefully this review can help some of you make the decision to stay here as well, because I know you will love it as much as we did.

This was our second time visiting Punta Cana. We vacationed there last year as well, and were excited to return again – it is beautiful! This is also our second time staying at a Gran Bahia Principe resort: we have also vacationed at the Bahia Principe Coba in Mexico. Since we somewhat knew what to expect, we were not very overwhelmed with the size of the resort – yes the entire complex is very large. Ambar is adults only, so this was a bonus for us.

We booked with Transat and arrived in Punta Cana around 4:30 pm. The trip from the airport to the resort was pleasant and not very long. Some people were able to check in on the bus: we did not. I was under the impression if you were part of the Diamond Club, you were able to do the bus check-in but I could be wrong. It was not a big deal for us to wait until we got to the lobby of our resort. We were dropped off at the Bavaro lobby and immediately took a trolley to the Ambar side with our bags. We were greeted with a welcome drink, completed check-in quickly thanks to the friendly and helpful staff. We were given an envelope that included our room keys, map of the resort, 3 dinner reservations (they reserved them for us, but you can try to change them if you do not like what they chose for you), as well as other various resort information. We found the way to our villa quickly and easily. The location was probably the best you can get: Villa 64, which is right near the pool, but still very close to the lobby/restaurant areas.

Rooms: The rooms are beautiful! The bed was king size and very romantic + comfortable, and there was a very large sitting with several chairs/seats. The room also included a safe (no extra cost to us), flat screen TV, alarm clock, robe, slippers, just to name a few things. The room was very well air conditioned, but also had a fan on the ceiling. Like some other reviewers have said, there is a slot in the wall when you walk in where you have to put a room key card to power everything. This wasn’t a huge deal to us, we just left the card in there: simple. The mini bar was always filled with water, pop, beer, little bottles of alcohol and Pringles. We were on the 3rd floor so we had a balcony which offered a beautiful view of the pool and ocean. The bathroom was probably my favourite part of the room. It included a very relaxing Jacuzzi tub with separate shower (greatest shower ever) and was all marble. The maid did a great job of cleaning every day, and we always liked to leave a tip to show our appreciation.

Landscape: The grounds were lovely and very well taken care of. There are palm trees/plants/flowers/decorations everywhere. There are shaded areas to sit along some of the pathways as well.

Pillow Service: You can order pillows to your room as well: emperor pillow, memory foam, foam neck pillow, chamomile dream pillow (scented) and green apple dream pillow (scented). My favourites were the 2 scented ones. The pillows were always delivered quickly and were all collected right before we left the resort. We ordered several, so as you can imagine we ended up with a lot of extra pillows!

Food: We were able to have 3 A La Carte dinners during our stay. Like I said earlier, our reservations were pre-made. Some people may not like this, but you can change them if you wish. We liked the restaurants that were chosen, so we stuck with them. There are 3 restaurants on the Ambar side, but you can choose any of the A La Cartes from the other side as well. We stuck with the 3 on the Ambar side which were: Portofino (Italian), El Olivo (Mediterranean) and Don Pablo (Gourmet). All 3 restaurants served good food, but our favourite was probably Gourmet where we ate lobster and the ambiance was romantic. The service was great at all 3, our drinks were constantly filled up and the staff was always friendly. There is 1 buffet restaurant (Palmyra) which served breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was always a large variety to choose from so no matter what your taste, you should have no problems finding something you like. At breakfast you can get an omelets cooked for you, however you like it. There is a smoothie station as well. For lunch and dinner you can find foods such as pasta, pizza, breads, fruits, veggies, as well as Dominican foods. I tried to stick with what I was used to! If you love nachos as much as me, definitely check out the lunch buffet. There they serve nachos with salsa, guacamole and cheese. The service here varied. Most times it was great, however at times it was poor. There were a few times in the beginning of our stay where it seemed to take forever for us to even get a waiters attention for water. This didn’t last long, however. Also, men beware that for dinner you MUST wear pants. If you are wearing shorts you will be turned away. There is also a snack bar near the pool which serves hot dogs, hamburgers, fruits, veggies, pasta, deserts and more. Service and food were both good.

Bars: The service at the swim up bar and lobby bar were both good. As I discovered during my last trip, Banana Mamas are delicious so this was my drink of choice again, but I would also recommend the strawberry or banana daiquiri.

Room Service: Room service was included in our package, but we only took advantage of this once. You can order hamburgers, nachos with cheese, ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets, fruit plates, just to name a few. The food was good, but the service was not so great. We waited much longer than the 45 minutes, plus had to call again. It was frustrating, but not enough to ruin a vacation;)

Pool: The pool is where we spent most of our time and is right beside the beach. It is very quiet and relaxing: there is no loud music. If music and activities is what you want, one of the Bavaro pools is very close by. We spent most of our time at the Ambar one. We went away to relax, and relax is what we did! There were never any problems finding a spot, even when we arrived half-way through the afternoon. The temperature of the pool was nice and refreshing. There is also an area where you can get your hair braided or get a massage, as well 2 photographers walk around offering to take your picture with 2 parrots.

Beach: The beach is absolutely beautiful! Even if you prefer the pool, but you must at least take a walk along the beach. The sand is soft, beautiful palm trees are everywhere, the water is absolutely gorgeous. If you are looking for something more active, there are water sports as well.

Entertainment: We didn’t attend too many of the shows. What we saw was not THAT great, but you can tell they were trying hard to entertain everyone. So I give credit for the effort. To see the shows you will have to go to the Bavaro side, but there is a trolley that will take you there. Also, on the Bavaro/Punta Cana side you can visit Pueblo Principe (Principe Village). There is entertainment there as well, several shops (you can bargain with the kiosks in the middle of all the hotel stores), a casino and sports bar. There is music in the Ambar lobby bar in the evening, and everything closes at 11 pm. If the party scene is what you are after, once again you will have to go to the Bavaro side. Not a big deal because it is a small trolley ride away.

Activities & Spa: Other things on the resort that might be of interest to you is the Spa, Gym, Tennis courts and mini golf. We did not play mini golf or do any of the treatments at the spa so I cannot comment on that. We played tennis..there were several courts and we were always able to get a court whenever we wanted to play. The gym has an area with treadmills, elliptical machine and spinners. There is a second area that has the weights. It’s not huge, but it has everything that you need if you want to work out, complete with motivational music. The gym and spa are on the Ambar side, but you must take a trolley to the tennis and mini golf.

Communication: Communication was a small issue because my boyfriend and I only know basic Spanish words. This was not a huge deal at all because even though we didn’t know much Spanish, we were always able to our questions/comments across. It might have taken more time and effort, but be patient.
Excursions: We spent most of our time on the resort, however took once excursion – Bavaro Runners. It was a good experience, but I felt a little motion sick on the bus. We saw plantations, went horseback riding, saw a traditional Dominican home and school, tested chocolate, coffee, Mamajuana , and cocoa beans. We ended the day at Macao beach. Our guide, Alex, was awesome!

Weather: We were lucky to have great weather for most of the trip. It rained a couple of nights, but we were inside so it didn’t matter and it never lasted long. It also rained the day we left, but we were already at the airport so that also didn’t matter. We saw hardly any bugs, however I did end up with only one bite (I usually get eaten alive!).

In conclusion, this resort was lovely, relaxing and very enjoyable. I really hope those of you considering this resort were able to make it through my long review. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt: some people will always find something to complain about, and a vacation is what you make of it. Ambar was absolutely gorgeous and all around fabulous. This was one of the best resorts I have had the pleasure of visiting, and I am certain you would enjoy yourself as much as I did. If anyone wants to know anything more, please contact me!