Bahia Principe Fantasia Punta Cana

Visited the Bahia Principe Fantasia with our family of 4 and had a great time. Room was great, beach excellent, pool was nice, food was good for the most part (Circus, Indian and Mexican restaurants are very good, buffet is varied and good). But mostly, the staff was amazing. Everybody was always smiling and ready to help. Cleaning people, restaurant staff, front desk, bartenders, entertaining team, kids club staff, gardeners,... Very good crew all around. Good things to know during the pandemic: -Make sure to bring your cell phone as there are no paper menus to limit contact. You need to scan the QR code available at each restaurant to get the menu on your mobile device. -Reservations have to be made for each meal, including buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. However this is only enforced during the weekend when the hotel is busier. We were not asked if a reservation was made during the week. Reservations are easily done via your phone, via touchscreen computers available in lobby area, or reservation desk. -The buffet is not self serve. There is ample staff at each station ready to serve what you want, quickly. This is actually a lot healthier and not just for Covid. -Wear of mask is mandatory in the lobby and restaurants. They provide a mask at check-in, but you better bring some of your own. Masks are not required outside by the pool or beach area. -All chairs, tables are sanitized frequently and marked as clean. When you take a lounger or chair, flip the card so the staff knows to clean once you leave. -Week was quiet. Weekend gets pretty busy (especially the pool and show area where social distancing was a bit trickier at times). Use the weekend for excursions if you plan on having any. -Ground sport center was closed (bikes, mini-golf, obstacle course). Water sport center was open and fully operational. Other great points: -No towel cards. Just exchange or get new towels whenever needed. No worries about losing your towel card. -No room key cards. Your bracelet has a RF chip that is your room key. That's a great idea, you won't forget your key card inside the room. -Very impressed by the English speaking level of all restaurant staff, not speaking Spanish was never an issue. Only complain is about the people selling excursions. Be careful what they guarantee and advertise as included with some attractions. Because it is slower than usual, some activities are closed and they won't tell you. I understand some cost saving had to be made, would have no issue with this if I was told so ahead of time, not after the fact once we already paid and were on site. I know those sellers have nothing to do with the hotel, but they are on the hotel grounds, in prime location, therefore the hotel should be somewhat accountable. All in all, great trip, will go back.

We stayed September 7-13th a family of 4 with 2 little kids. We felt very comfortable and safe. They clean and sanitize literary everything right away. You have to keep in mind this is a lower budget resort so you get what you pay for. The food at the buffet was hit and miss, all of the restaurants had very good food, especially the Greek. For lunch we took the golf cart to the beach to eat at the restaurant by the beach as the food there is much better plus the view and the breeze is so nice. Pool was clean and water was literary hot in the afternoons. Beach super clean and pleasant. Kids water park is horrible compared to other resorts, your kids will lose interest after few minutes. Rooms we clean but like all low budget resorts the AC isn’t strong enough. Drinks were watered down and only the cheap liquor used, again you get what you pay for. For the money we paid we had a great time. The castles light music show at night is very enjoyable everyone loves it.

We are a Canadian family and arrived here for a 7 day trip, landed on Sep5th. Day 1 or first impressions haven't been great. Maintainence issues in room (Fan/Ac broken). Buffet not upto 5 star resort standards (No shrimps ,limited grilled meat options and no special lobster night planned) . Pool bars - looooongggg lineups and run out of premium liquor . Lobby bar is great. 2 major Ala carte Restaurant closed - brazilian and sea food. Pool service nonexistent on day 1 . Kids water part is great. Day 2 we are planning to check the beach area, beach restaurant, snacks place around kids water park, sports bar and Mexican restaurant. Jose ,one of the managers has been great so far in helping out resolve our issues, great service. Good thing is that Covid 19 protocals are being adhered to. We will explore rest of the resort for our next 6 days and update our comments accordingly.