My 21-year-old daughter and I just returned to Toronto from one week AI at Bahia Principe RSJ. I suggest it's a wonderful beach vacation for families, couples, teenagers who want a tropical holiday with all you can eat and drink surrounded by well-trained staff. But if you are looking to experience life and learn more about history, you'll have to leave the compound to get that experience. If you want real contact with the people who live here, you need to leave this surreal environment and give up the all-you-can-eat bagels, waffles and croissants. One week is not enough time to accomplish these objectives and the isolation of this resort prevents that from happening. There are excursions and if you have three weeks in the country you could get a more interesting visit by moving around the country. I was looking for salsa, bachata and merengue, the opportunity to work on my Spanish and some downtime with my daughter because we both work and go to school from September to the end of May. She wanted to experience the culture and she has never been south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Our last vacation together was in the Islamic Republic of Iran, seven years ago! She's been to Germany, Spain and London without me and was really excited to go to the DR.) We should have done some research or discussed our objectives with a travel planner
before we selected the Bahia Principe as our destination based on the price and package. Live and learn. But we made the best of the resort with only 7 days and considering my daughter had so much trouble adapting to the change of food, water, and climate, maybe it was the right choice. Nah, Puerta Plata would have been better! However, we had a great time de-compressing and hanging out together and we met some lovely people from the Dominican Republic.
Arrival at the Airport
The Customs officer commented on how beautiful my daughter was in her old passport photo with long hair. We smiled and demurely said thank you while he collected
both our Entrance/Entrada and Salida/Exit tourist cards. (We had to pay for 2 more $20 US exits on the way out.) Note to all blondes entering the DR, those little exit thingies
are perforated for a reason, tear them apart and save the exit for your departure!!!
We were promptly met by our representative and boarded our minibus which smelt like no locker room I've ever entered. (I have a friend here in Canada who dances salsa almost every night and his car smells like that.I think he sleeps in it and goes to work the next morning.) It was an interesting drive to BPRSJ and you get to see some of the countryside and small towns along the highway.
Arrival at the Resort
We weren't greeted with cocktails or any fanfare, although other groups were; perhaps this is the NOLITOURS budget package. I don't really care about that but if they want to be a 4 or 5 star facility they should do it. At the very least the room should be ready, ours wasn't. We had to wait 2 hours until 2:30 for our room in the heat and humidity dressed for cooler weather. (Pack your bathing suit and change of clothes in your carry-on) and assert yourself, I'm guilty of being too passive. The staff at the front desk were very friendly and
always courteous but then what the hell I'm always like that why wouldn't they be. Everyone speaks English and they hid their amusement and stiffled their smiles as I referred to my luggage (malettas) as tarjetas, bolsas, and bursas!
Landscaping and Setting
The grounds are beautifully landscaped, paths are clean and free from litter.
The beach and all the building are a short walk away and there is a shuttle to ride on when your too frigging lazy with the heat and humidity to walk. The main lobby was decorated with fresh flowers and sofas and chairs to laze around in. My daughter looked around noted a father with two kids occupying 2 sofas and 3 chairs and remarked "I hate familes!" setting the tone for some of her encounters at these family with kids resort paradise. Our room was on the third floor and overlooked the barbed wire fence that "protects" the people of the DR from us. Bring a small umbrella for the afternoon showers. I wasn't bitten by bugs, but some legs were covered perhaps from excursions because I think they fumigate they area. Normally I'm covered in DEET and taken Benydrl on camping trips in Canada and I was bitten horribly in Cuba.
Accomodations
Simple clean well-maintained room with plenty of storage space. You might need more hangers, especially if you like to hang all your morning, lunch, dinner, after-hours disco costume changes! But really you don't need too many changes of clothing since most people seem to walk around in bathing suits and sarongs.
Not a five star clientele in my opinion, quite a few gluttons, bingers, boozers, people smoking cigars during the Mini Disco, teenagers puking in the disco. Maybe I'm decribing the perfect holiday.) Tip your maid as you go, a dollar a day at least. I bought hair barrettes, candies and other girly stuff like nail polish before I left home and distributed them to women I met. Although they're beautiful, as you'll see. Men from the DR also seem to be very well-groomed and stylish, the guests
are a disappointment and even embarrassing.
The bathrooms in the other buildings are always clean and they always had soap in the dispensers. No so at the airport where there was no soap to wash your hands. (You might consider small bottle hand sanitizer for your purse.)
Food
We could never get it together to reserve for the smaller restaurants and ate in La Brisa buffet restaurant. I think the quality was okay, nothing special however. Lots of choices and very good for picky eaters who want to eat all the same foods they have at home or try some other dishes. (It's better that eating at the Mandarin in Toronto, but the pastas are all over cooked.) We're both vegetarians so it would have been nice to read the ingredients in some of the dishes. (There were Muslims and Hindus there as well who have diet restrictions and we really wondered about those very flavourful "meatless" fried rice dishes!! My daughter and I stayed away from the lineup for fries and tried every thing (yuka, fried plantains, mashed plantains, Dominican black beans and rice, passionfruit, not to mention all the various salads, vegetable dishes etc. from Spain, Mexico etc.) By Day 3 we were right into Imodium. My advice be sure try everything but bring
two boxes of Imodium with you or visit your family doctor for a prescription before you leave home. You can't drink the water from the hotel taps, I forgot and took a few gulps. The mini-bar in the room is always stocked and water is available everywhere.
Pool
The water in the main pool is a bit murky by mid-afternoon and the swim-up bar is a highlight were I got to meet some very lovely hammered guests. There are a few other smallers pools where you can swim laps or play basketball, take a scuba lesson. My daughter and I got a big kick out of the sign that read "No Top Less" with all the topless sunbathers in the vicinty. Boys from Canada, you will be both delighted and traumatized by all that is displayed there. Yeah, I know it's natural but there should be special DR tourist cards issued for old wizened women who expose their deflated, broiled flesh in public!
Beach
I thought is was beautiful (especially for skinny dipping at night after the disco) but you can visit other beautiful beaches in day trips. Lots of recliners, umbrellas, towels. Bring your sunscreens and blocks with you in your luggage not in your carry-ons.
Fitness Centre & Spa
I really used the air-conditioned fitness centre every day with all the food and drinks that I was consuming. The attendent (a member of the animation team) was very attentive and really helped everyone. I think he needed more training on assessment and developing fitness programs but he was adequate. He put together areobics classes for us if we asked and even gave salsa lessons and I think that was very accomodating. The equipment in not in good repair. Seats on the bikes had torn vinyl. I didn't think the standard was very high, guests worked out in bare feet with free weights and in swim trunks. They had clean towels to wipe your sweat but they didn't smell fresh. I didn't see any sanitizers around to clean and wipe down equipment something that should always be done by patrons or staff after using equipment. I didn't use the Spa services, I regret that. Because I think this resort is more suitable for a Spa vacation.
Activities & Entertainment
Lots of activities for the guests and children. Volleyball, aerobics, water activities, tennis, scuba, sailing, Jetski, etc. Mini disco every night to burn out the children before bedtime. Babysitting, crafts, dancing during the day. All the children seemed very happy here and parents had time to themselves. The nightly show was always entertaining but not all the dancers are the same level. My daughter is a dancer so she critiqued everything and always pointed out who had good technique and who didn't. We do respect how hard dancers work to get it right. We prefered the Latin choreography over the hip hop or jazz numbers. We didn't like two of the dances numbers that we felt perpetuate stereotypes about Jamaicans as pot smoking, stupid, stoned Rastas. Sorry it's not politically correct for me, where's the solidarity? It's bad business because Canadians are very multicultural and sensitive to this stuff. Technical Expertise: Some of the dancers could audition for the Alvin Ailey dance company. They were awesome. Others needed dry ice and lighting effects to cover their weak technique. In my opinion, I think it's a mistake to have animation team members working from 8 in the morning until 1:30 am. doing Rec programs and dancing all night. It's not a healthy lifestyle. After reading all the reports in this forum about the Animation team I was watching for sanki panki. I think the management seem to have some control over it with their rules of conduct. During working hours I think the animination team were behaving well and working really hard. And the guests were really happy. But they don't have control over all the young girls who are dying for attention from these charming guys. I talked with some of the staff about their relationships with repeat guests and I think the isolation and the economic disparities contribute to it. I talked with a friend in recreation here in Toronto and he says girls are always seeking him out and coming on to him and if he were isolated with beautiful girls coming in every week from all over the world it might be hard not to enjoy the interaction and stay professional. People in the service industry every where in the world know that if they give good service they get better tips. And then you mix in the obvious econominc disparity between the guests who come on vacation with money to spend and staff who get a couple days off after burning themselves out. You have the guilt of the vacationers who know they just got lucky by being born in the developed countries (built on profits of slavery and colonialism). And staff who recognize that guilt and learn that if they present themselves a little more pathetically they'll get even better tips. I saw a little of that, but for the most part the staff were model employees. I think the hotel should have benefits and pension plans for staff and AI vacations for their families at other Bahia Principe locations. Personally, I think there's a bit of sanki in all of us (maybe the guests are the master sankis). I would like to see corporate responsibilty demonstrated by this company with their employees and in the community. That is something we value in our our country, it should be some we demand of the foreign companies who operate in tourism. But let's be honest here, this was nothing I considered when I made my travel choice. I was looking for a package to fit my budget. (My daughter would like to see recycling and evidence that they are taking care of the environment.) She was horrified to see the use of animals used in the magic act. And she was disappointed that the folklore dance troupe wasn't given the respect they deserved. Guests had their legs on the stage. That dance troupe was more than 4 star, they were world-class and should be participating in dance festivals around the world. The stage manager and/or MC should have demanded the respect they deserve.
Excusions
There are various excusions available. On day 4 we arranged a bus trip to Cabarete Beach and none of the other 8 guests showed up so it was cancelled. We took a taxi instead and met up with some Canadians living in the DR. (We talked about dancing, work and relationships and I'm not going repeat any of it!) Unfortunately after that excursion I had to give up all thoughts about going to Rio San Juan, Puerto Plata or anywhere because my daughter was being dosed with Immodium, "bombas" (soda water, salt, lime and Gravol. My daughter was in bed for a couple days. It was very lonely dressing up and sitting in the dining room all by myself let me tell you but I did it because I'm fuerte! And I resisted offers to go dancing in Rio San Juan, because I don't go out with strangers here in Canada so why should I start now? So I danced the night away in the disco. The street dances with merengue bands were really great fun but only a hand full of people would dance?!
Check out time
You don't get a send-off from the animation team with cocktails when you're in the lobby at 6 am. (TIP: Take the soft drinks and water with you as you might need it with four hours at the airport.) You get a very sparse Continental breakfast. And if you have to eat at the airport get ready for a rip-off (grilled cheese sandwich, fries, baked potato for my suffering daughter, 2 orange juice and a coffee -- Approx. 26$ US.) But over the Continental breakfast, I joked with the tour rep and my bus driver that I wasn't coming back I was going to go to Puerto Plata next time to dance in La Canita (Note to retentive types, with a tilde?) with
real men. The bus driver jumped up and whirled me around the restaurant dancing bachata to his singing compays, then a merengue and then more bachata ... this time a little closer, as his friends called out "Tigre!" That was one of my highlights!
So this is a family resort and I thinks it's a great one... but I personally need more bachata, merengue and even salsa. So next time I'm going listen to a "planner" and make my choices more carefully but I would definately come back to the DR.
Cheers,
Margaret
I think I covered it all, PM me if you have any questions.
Bahia Principe - Rio San Juan Aug 11-21
Great to hear we weren't scammed!
