Review: Bahia Principe Luxury Ambar, Dominican Republic

I spent the first week of the Easter holidays in paradise, and the second in a coffee-fuelled, messed-up sleep pattern fog of jet laggy confusion. I returned from my honeymoon in the Dominican Republic on Easter Monday and it has taken until now for me to function well enough to write a review of the resort without going off on a tangent about time differences, overnight flights and the air stewardess who was 100% channelling Regina George. But people, here I am.

Let me start by saying that I had the most wonderful honeymoon with my favourite person in the whole world and that I wish we could have stayed in our little tropical bubble forever, but alas, the real world came a-calling. Below are my thoughts on the resort, so if you're considering booking then do give it a read. Eyes wide open and all that jazz.

First Impressions

We booked, flew and transferred with Tui, and that is a story that I honestly don't have the energy for right now. Nevertheless, when we first arrived at the Bahia Principe Luxury Ambar just outside Punta Cana, we were impressed. The lobby was absolutely pristine, our cases were immediately taken by a porter and we were welcomed very warmly to the hotel. Now at this point, I should point out that the resort we stayed at is made up of seven sister hotels: Esmeralda, Aquamarine, Bavaro, Fantasia, Turquesa, Grand and Ambar. Aquamarine is the main pick-up and drop-off point but we were very promptly shuttled to the Ambar lobby via golf cart to check in. We also received a welcome drink and a cold towel on arrival which was a really nice touch. Check in was smooth and we were walked to our room by a very knowledgeable guest liaison who talked us through various restaurants, how to book excursions and where all the main amenities were located while our luggage followed about 5 minutes later. No lugging suitcases in the heat - bonus!

The Room

When we reached the room, we found that the door had been decorated with a honeymoon banner and we had been given complimentary sparkling wine and chocolate as a gift from the hotel, which was very welcome. The hotel offers 4 room standards: a balcony room, a corner balcony suite, a swim-up room and a corner swim-up suite. We selected a swim up room which meant that we had a long, thin pool running outside of our room which we shared with approximately 7 other rooms and which overlooked the main path through the resort (perfect for people watching!).

At each end were the corner suites which benefit from a slightly larger indoor seating area, larger patio and a corner section of the pool to themselves. We were completely satisfied with our room choice which offered a large walk in shower; a well-stocked complimentary mini bar (beer, soft drinks, water, nuts); a "king size" bed which was super king by UK standards; dressing gown and slippers and an outdoor patio with 2 comfortable sunbeds and a seating area.

Our villa block. You can see a corner suite closest to the camera and the balcony rooms above.

Housekeeping visited daily and kept the room very clean as well as restocking the mini bar and essential toiletries. The hotel is committed to helping the environment and we were encouraged to not change towels too frequently which we were more than happy to do. There was a TV in

the room with good picture and sound quality, but only one English-speaking channel which was a US news station. This led to much ranting from myself about the standard of journalism, and was wholly entertaining when Donald Trump was arrested on the 3rd day of our stay, but I digress.

Public Areas

We absolutely couldn't fault the pride that Bahia Principe take in their resorts. We didn't go half an hour of our stay without seeing the maintenance team. This might sound like there was a lot that needed fixing but that certainly was not the case. The maintenance team were always busy checking things, pruning the beautiful greenery or adding a fresh coat of paint to make sure the resort stayed looking its absolute best. I watched through my fingers as one of them scaled palm tree after palm tree with no more than a rope and a prayer to keep him secure while he hacked off some of the less stable palm leaves that were in danger of falling in the wind. You've got to have some pretty big kahunas to be swaying in coastal winds, about 20ft from the ground with a machete, chopping down leaves that are bigger than you.

The bars and restaurants were well decorated and there was never a long wait for a table or seat. The main pool, on the other hand, did have a sunbed availability issue. I took a 6:30am walk one morning (again, thanks jet lag) and there were only about 5 sunbeds that didn't have towels on. Of course, there was nobody on the sunbeds. Just the passive aggressive towels that seemed to follow us across the Atlantic from the Brit Abroad type hotels of Europe. The human equivalent of urinating to mark your territory. We didn't spend any time around the pool itself, preferring to use our swim-up privileges instead, but from what we did see it was a large, clean pool with a swim-up bar and a real party vibe between 3pm and 5pm. One day there was a foam party and there seemed to always be something happening down at the "party pool". There was also a small hut selling frozen pineapple or coconut cocktails for $5 each. We sampled the pineapple offering which was delicious, and the gentleman was even kind enough to let us shelter in his hut during a storm while he made our drinks*.

The hotel's beach. Plenty of sunbeds and waves a lot rougher than they look.

I was very excited to learn during the booking process that the hotel had its very own white sand beach and I have to confess that, on arrival, my snorkel and I were a little bit disappointed. Although absolutely stunning with sparkling blue waves and soft, white sand perfect for a stroll, this is not a swimming beach. You can certainly try and there is a lifeguard on duty at peak times but the waves are very, very rough. I consider myself to be an extremely competent swimmer and I hurl myself into the sea with gay abandon at every given opportunity, but even I drew the line here. I later learned that the choppy conditions were down to us being on the Atlantic side of the island. Another slight downside to the beach is the seaweed: a wall of orange-red sargassum washed up every morning, heaped up on the sand and lingering in the water. Obviously, this is no fault of the resort and they did an absolutely fantastic job of clearing it with tractors, but just something to be aware of.

I asked my husband if he had anything to add to this section of the review and he excitedly instructed me to "talk about the music! The music!". Gotcha. There was ambient music playing at perfect volume throughout the resort from 8am each morning which added a nice chilled holiday vibe. I don't know what time they turned it off, nor exactly what the playlist was but I am certain that Mr May With Words was a fan.

*Side note: sheltering with us in the pineapple hut was a mid-50s lady from New York who, when faced with two Brits, desperately grasped at the only two suitable conversational topics. The weather (obviously) and the passing of Queen Elizabeth II (unnecessary).

Food & Drink

We were very much spoilt for choice throughout our stay with Bahia Principe. In addition to the main restaurant there are also a number of speciality restaurants (bookable at reception or via the app) as well as a coffee shop, sports bar, room service and beach restaurant.

Main restaurant (buffet)

The food in the restaurant was delicious, plentiful and there were lots of different options. We did find that those options stayed the same throughout the stay so by the end we were eating very similar things for breakfast and lunch each day but that was more through personal choice. There are several live cooking stations where you can get seafood, eggs and noodles cooked to your liking. The desserts looked impressive but all had a very similar taste and texture which became a theme throughout our stay. Service was excellent 99% of the time. On the busiest day (due to torrential rain), we did find that service was very slow and we were forgotten about when it came to drinks, glasses and cutlery.

Room service

We ordered room service once (pulled pork pitta for him, Chef Manuel salad for me) and once was enough. The food was fresh and well-cooked but we quickly decided we would be better off in the main restaurant for food quality, choice and a change of scenery. Also, I don't know what Chef Manuel puts in his sauce but for a few hours afterwards my mouth looked like it had been swapped in iodine ready for surgery.

Speciality Restaurants

El Olivo - mediterranean, great food, would recommend the chocolate lava cake

Duck breast in hoisin sauce served in a rice omelette at Oriental Takara

Oriental Takara - Asian, food was tasty and well-presented

Hindu Thali - Indian, great flavours, be aware that "sharing" bowls are not sharing size, recommend the lamb rogan josh and the kheer dessert, staff coped really well with high winds causing chaos outside

Limbo - our only negative experience, food was delicious (especially the coffee cream dome dessert) but service was poor, wrong orders, food brought out at the wrong time and left on the table, paying for drinks came as a bit of a surprise and menu descriptions were a little misleading

M.E.A.T - 100% made up for Limbo, incredible food, churrasco steak was to die for, so good we went back on our last night, only thing missing was a wipe/dipping bowl for sticky chicken wing fingers

Other options

The Ambar resort also has a free coffee shop and a sports bar. We used the coffee shop once and it was great coffee but not enough for a return visit. We did not eat at the sports bar but from what we could see they were offering simple fast food like burgers, fries and nachos. There was also the beach restaurant Las Olas which we believe was another buffet restaurant, just closer to the pool and beach, but again we didn't eat here so I can't really comment.

Bars

We ordered drinks mostly from the Lobby Bar where the bartenders were friendly, quick and there were a good range of all inclusive cocktails as well as wine, beer and spirits. There was an occasional language barrier which led to some interesting interpretations of our orders but the drinks were always refreshing, generously measured and delicious. Mr May visited the pool bar once and returned looking shell-shocked and clutching two small plastic cups of "cocktail of the day". He recounted that this had been the only option and that the interaction had consisted mostly of the bartender repeatedly shouting "cocktail of the day?" at him before he finally just said "Yes." to end the conversation. Traumatised, he pledged his allegiance to the Lobby Bar for the rest of the stay.

Excursions

A nurse shark seen on our snorkelling trip. I estimate about 5ft long but my husband swears it was 8.

Due to the beach situation, we decided to book a sea-based excursion. I would

absolutely recommend doing this in person rather than via the app because there were far more options and the rep had brochures for us to look at. We visited the Coming2 desk in the lobby and were served by Chicho who provided fantastic service and recommended several excursions after discovering that I'm a keen snorkeller. We booked a half-day catamaran trip to the Marinarium. Marinarium is a sea-life reserve off the Caribbean coast of the island where you can snorkel in the sea with stingrays and nurse sharks. This trip was the highlight of the week and gave us the opportunity to snorkel with the animals, sample cocktails on board the catamaran, dance, visit a sandbar and take in the stunning coastlines. Jonathan and the boat crew did a fantastic job and it's an experience that we'll remember forever.

The Bottom Line

So to summarise...

Pros:

• Fabulous location and stunning resort

• Plenty of restaurant choice

• M.E.A.T restaurant

• Great all inclusive drinks selection

• Well-maintained hotel and surroundings

• Thorough housekeeping

• Beautiful swim-up room

• Service and attitude of staff was exemplary 99% of the time

Cons:

• Swim-up room pool not heated - a very chilly dip!

• Beach not quite as advertised

• Food - lots of seafood dishes where prawns were not de-veined, all desserts had the same texture and lacked taste

Considerations

Not enough to make it onto the cons list and absolutely not a reflection on the hotel but just worth being aware of:

• Language barrier - if you're not a Spanish speaker then you might find it difficult to place orders or get answers to any questions

• TV - if you're bringing little ones (Luxury and Ambar are adults only but the other hotels allow children) or you're a big TV watcher then you might be disappointed with the lack of English-spoken channels

• Currency - We were very confused by the currency situation. The official currency of the Dominican Republic is Dominican Pesos which is a restricted currency, so we were advised to change our money out there and not bring any back. Once we arrived, we found that in tourist areas and hotels, most things are priced in dollars. The hotel told us to take money out of the ATM in pesos to be exchanged, but then refused to change it to dollars so we ended up having to try and use pesos wherever possible and change the rest back at the airport. Long story short, I've got about 500 pesos in my purse and a new-found fear of currency exchange.

So, there we have it. A comprehensive review of Bahia Principe Luxury Ambar. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, would recommend it as a honeymoon destination and we would absolutely love to return at a later date. If you're thinking of booking, then do it! You won't be disappointed. Just remember: take dollars not pesos, brush up on your Spanish and stock up on snacks at the lobby shop if you've got a sweet tooth.

Oh, and say hi to Chicho, Jonathan and the nurse sharks for us!

Frankie x