Bahia Principe Fantasia Punta Cana

it was an excellent experience, from the check in to the check out.. the food and the service in the restaurants was TOP. the rooms are ok. The kids areas are really good and well kept. there is a lot of survelliance and safety for the kids.

For the past 5 years, we have been going south with our kids to escape winter. We typically go to Mexico (Cancun/Playa del Carmen), but this year we decided to give the DR a try. What a fantastic experience this was! When we arrived, we were greeting will a cool cloth and a refreshing drink. Check-in was smooth, and as our room wasn't quite ready, we started off with some lunch. The food at the buffet was quite good with a lot of variety. Manager Angel was always walking around and helping our his staff whenever he could. The a-la-carte restaurants were where we usually had dinner, and we had no issue booking all of our dinners for the week at poolside using the app. Because this is one of several Bahia Principe resorts that are all adjacent to each other, we had access to several other restaurants at the other resorts. During our week, we tried a steak house, an Italian restaurant, a French restaurant, a Japanese restaurant for Teppanyaki, and a Brazilian restaurant. All were spectacular! Some of these restaurants were at adjacent Bahia Principe resorts, but it wouldn't be more than a 10-15 minute walk. But wait ... there are shuttles! Fantasia isn't technically beach-front ... you have to walk no more than 10 minutes through the next resort to get to the beach. But there is a well-run shuttle system that has golf cart trains cruising up and down the roads that separate the resorts on a very frequent and regular basis. I thought this was going to be a bit more of a hassle, but it really wasn't. One day, we were running late for dinner and weren't sure where we were going, so we checked with the front desk and they immediately arranged one of the luggage concierges to whisk us over to exactly where we needed to be. Our room was spacious, with 2 double beds and a convertible couch that gave us 3 sleeping surfaces for our family of 4. The beds weren't quite the right comfort for me, but the kids had no complaints and other people we talked to said they really liked their beds. I guess it depends on what you're used to at home. The housekeeping staff was exceptional. We were never disturbed, yet she found the time to service our room twice daily. The minibar was stocked and replenished and there were always plenty of towels for us. The main pool was gradually inclined to give a large shallow area for younger children. The deepest areas were not too deep and the temperature was refreshing but not too cold. Wait staff came around often and were always attentive and pleasant. They were always walking around in the heat, so I tried to tip a little each time they brought me a drink. The swim up bar was also very handy! At other resorts, it seemed we'd always have to wake up early to 'reserve' loungers with out towels or pay to reserve a bali bed. At Fantasia, loungers in the covered areas are first come, first serve (so no extra cost there) and we never had an issue finding loungers. Very near to the main pool was the Fantasia waterpark. This one is exclusive for guests of the Fantasia resort. There is another waterpark for guests of the other resorts in the Bahia Village common area, but we didn't go there. The Fantasia waterpark is for kids and it had several waterslides. This water was a bit cooler, but the kids didn't seem to mind. There were always a couple of lifeguards keeping watch in this area. It also had a snackbar that served pizza, treats, and drinks. The entertainment was very enjoyable too. Most evenings in the lobby, there were jugglers that dressed up and put on a little floor show with kids often standing by and interacting. The shows were well done and by far my favourite was the Circus Show, a Cirque du Soleil style acrobatic spectacle that had me wowed! Entertainment crew also started the day with pool-side Tai Chi or water aerobics and usually had some contest or game (for both kids an adults) at pool side. Even if you're not the participating type, it's fun to watch from the swim-up bar while sipping your Coco Loco. Francis and Darlin were especially friendly to us and our kids. The Kids Club was a godsend! The kids club staff members were some of the nicest people! They were so kind and friendly to all the children and made an effort to engage children around the pool during the day so that kids got to know and recognize them. The Kids Club castle itself was like a well-quipped day care. One room had a variety of toys, games, and costumes so kids could play or put on a little show. The other room had a Foozball table and 3 Nintendo Switches. While we generally try to keep our kids off screens on vacation, we indulged them for a couple of nights when we wanted to have an adults-only dinner. We had no hesitation about leaving our kids under their excellent care. During the day, there were kids crafts and other activities both in the Club and elsewhere on the resort ... you can consent to allow your child to leave the Club with the staff to attend an activity with the group. In the evenings, some of the Kids Club staffers would conduct a little kids dance party and play a musical chairs type game in the lobby or theatre before the evening show. My kids still sing "Aram Sam Sam" once in a while! The beach was a big surprise for me. I'm not typically a beach person and prefer to hang out by a pool. I also tend to be a bit more worrisome about our young children in the sea. This beach was spectacular! The sand was fine and soft. There were no rocks or pebbles or sharp seashells to hurt your feet and you made your way into the warm clear turquoise water. It was just soft sand all the way in. It was also quite shallow too. On our visit, the waves were a little choppy at times, but that didn't stop the four of us from wading in and enjoying the surf. There were plenty of beach loungers and palapas to go around here too. I would recommend using an insect repellant on your legs at least to prevent bites from pesky sand fleas, or "no-see-ums" ... you really can't see them when they bite you, but you'll feel the itch the next day! At lunch time, there was a grill set up on the beach, or you could access the Fantasia-exclusive Beach Restaurant. Overall, this experience has changed my opinion of the Dominican Republic (I had always thought Mexican resorts were more luxurious) and has me wanting to go back! Bahia Principe seems to be a very well-run resort hotel chain with attention to several little details that all contribute to a more relaxed feel. For example, your room key is a very small NFC chip that's embedded into your wrist band, so you don't have any cards to lose or forget. WiFi was decent and available all over the resort. Everyday, we would notice a hotel employee doing some type of maintenance work (e.g., paint touch-ups) that keep this place looking like the luxury hotel it is. I would not hesitate to go back.

My husband and I went here to attend a destination wedding. We found it easy to complain about the property because we hadn't chosen it for ourselves, but also, it wasn't great. POSITIVES: the resort is close to the airport. NEGATIVES: this resort is large; there are at least 5 attached properties. Fantasia is extremely family-friendly, so we felt like all of the money we were paying was going towards amenities for children. One of the many pools got closed twice in two days because the same kid defecated in it. We traveled with a large group and the resort had difficulty checking us all in. The wifi is almost impossible to use (free, but terrible connectivity); it's how the resort expects you to book a la carte restaurants. The a la cartes, when you could get into them, were good. We were told we couldn't book the Brazilian Buffet a la carte, so we decided to just show up one night. We were immediately admitted, without even giving out room number, and less than half of the restaurant's tables were occupied. The buffet was the worst of any resort I have stayed at. It's like they didn't even make an effort. The bar tenders at most bars were pretty slow, and tips didn't seem to make a difference. Like I said above, there are many pools, but almost all guests woke up before 6:00am in order to drape towels over several poolside chairs so that they could reserve them for later. It was nearly impossible to get any poolside chair after 9:00am; again, this is a huge resort complex. The beach was large, and pretty nice, but the seaweed was out of control. I realize that the resort can't help this, and, indeed, had crews clearing seaweed off the beach every few days with backhoes, but it was very unpleasant to swim in the ocean. There weren't many activities for adults that didn't cost extra. Some days, our room wouldn't have been cleaned or attended to by 4:00pm.