As you may know I [Kelly] recently went to Punta Cana for my friends bachelorette party. We stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe located in Punta Cana. They also have locations in Jamaica, Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic: Samana, Dominican Republic: La Romana, Mexico and they also have some resorts in Spain. They one we stayed at in Punta Cana is their biggest all-inclusive resort consisting of 7 different resorts in 1. Inside the Punta Cana resort we stayed at Aquamarine which is the adults-only section. Not to worry though if you had kids we recommend the Bavaro resort inside aquamarine which we will
touch upon more.
*All opinions are my own. This review is not sponsored by the Hotel nor did they gift me any sort of package.
The room
Lets start with one of the most important parts- the room. [Sorry it is a little messy]. There are a few options you can get with the rooms. Our’s was for 3 people but actually there was a couch in the back where we think it could have fit 4. It came with a king bed and a “cot” but it was more like a movable twin bed as it was pretty comfy. The room were pretty standard and could use some updates but otherwise no complaints. Each room comes with a balcony and your standard shampoo, conditioner, body wash, moisturizer, dental kit [mini tooth brush and toothpaste], hair net, and a disposable razor with shaving cream.
We went with the junior suite superior. We actually had originally booked the junior suite as it included two full beds and a cot but unfortunately they overbooked these but the superior suites ended up being just as nice.
The Resort
Next lets talk about Aquamarine resort first. Something this resort does really well is keeping you entertained all day. There were activities or competitions throughout the day usually about 4. They ranged from surfboard pilates [so much fun], salsa lessons, rum tastings, yoga, Spanish lessons, paddle board races, water aerobics. We liked staying close to the pool as the swim up bar was more than ideal compared to the beach.
At night there was also events. Every night there was an event in your hotel. Weather it was Karaoke, A burlesque show, White night or even game night. The staff at this hotel were amazing at entertaining their guests. After the show at your designated hotel there was usually a large show in the Bavaro resort which we will get into below!
Below are a few images of the pool area, the check-in lobby and around the Aquamarine resort.
The other resorts + the Beach
The only other resort we went to was the Bavaro resort. This is the main resort and the largest of the 7 hotels. If you do an excursions [ we did a snorkeling one] this is where they pick you up. Also as mentioned above this is where the main square is. From about 9-11/11:30 pm there is some type of entertainment here. The best night had to been Michael Jackson when they performed his acts for an hour. It was so on point. In the square there is also a casino and the “disco” aka the club. The club didn’t open until 11:30 and stayed open until 3 or 4 am. We usually only made it until about 2 am after drinking all day. This is also where they had mini golf, tennis courts, soccer fields, trampolines, and a fun adventure course. They also had a water park for kids over in this area and a large portion of shops were over here. There are shops near every hotel though.
The one thing I forgot to mention is that there is golf cart shuttles to get you around every where. They is a large abundance of them so you never have to wait to long. They run until about 3am in the morning. After the club we usually took the shuttle all the way down to the 24/7 buffet [it was close to the beach] and then took it back to our hotel. Great so we didn’t have to walk in our heels.
The beach was so really nice as well. You do have to get there early for a spot or by 12 most people leave and go to the pool. The water was warm and for some reason extra salty. There are waitresses that walk around and take your order for drinks or you can walk up to the bar thats a few feet away. There is also a bunch of people selling items on the beach and photo opps with Animals.
Staying at Aquamarine we were actually only allowed in 3 of the 7 hotels besides for dinner. There are designated sections on the beach and we by accident sat in the wrong section so we got asked to move since we were’t “allowed” in that area.
The gym
For those of you that care about the Gym ha, it was so nice! It was definitely recently re-done or just built. We worked out there twice and surprisingly at 9am it was packed. We still got to use everything we wanted to though and we even ran around the resort one day which was just as good since it was so warm out.
the food + Drinks
Every morning we ate at the buffet and for lunch we did as well. There was a buffet in our resort [each one has one] but then there was also two close to the beach. One was a 24/7 one and one was open just for certain meal hours. At 1pm the pool also served a specific dish for the day if you didn’t want to leave the pool. For example pieta was served one day. At 3pm the pool had sandwiches/Panini’s you could get and at 4 pm the sports bar opened where you could get food [ picture below]. We never actually tried the Sport’s Bar food so we can’t speak to that.
Before we went we book all of our restaurants for dinner in advance.
The first night we went to the Italian restaurant which was so yummy. I got the buff mozz salad, we split pizza for the table and I got pasta with meat sauce. Safe to say it was way too much food.
The next night we went to Mexican food. The app was a full buffet of Mexican food. I was so full off the buffet that I didn’t even need my fajitas that I got.
The following night we went to Hibachi which would be hard to mess up. One of our favorite meals by far. Got the fried ice cream for dessert also highly recommend.
The final night we went to the steak restaurant. The below steak was a meal for two but just order it for yourself! I also tried to cesar salad and the chicken wings with cheese cake for dessert. Hey got to try everything right. This or hibachi was my favorite meal.
Overall Review
The only two things that went wrong while we were here was that our reservations got messed up for the rooms and my friends apple watch got stolen [which is still be investigated]. Highly recommend wherever you go that you lock your personal items up in your safe in the room. I did read other reviews of this happening to someone else as well so make sure everything is in the safe.
Overall if you are looking for a huge party resort I don’t think this is the place unless you go with a big group like we did where we made it so fun together! If you are looking for somewhere that is relaxing and you are constantly entertained then we defiantly recommend coming here. The food was good but not the best but you also can’t beat the price of this all-inclusive resort it is a steal!
