I was so excited when we landed in Samana airport and travelling on the bus to go to the hotel. Then, we checked in at the front desk and my enjoyment was turned to anger which is a crappy way to start a vacation. They gave us two rooms with king beds even though we specifically requested two rooms with two double beds. Carlos at the front desk told us he would fix it by bringing in an extra bed. I refused that because, really, after paying alot of money why would we settle for one person to sleep on a cot. He argued that the hotel was full. When I asked to talk to the manager, he said he was manager (which he wasn't). After alot of arguing he finally gave us two rooms with double beds. Why on earth didn't he just do that in the first place? I must say it really took all enjoyment out of arrival.

Beautiful clean hotel with lovely beaches, warm water, huge food selection and some snorkelling right in front of the hotel. You could walk the beach for 8 km too. Free wifi in the hotel and lobby areas.

The resort is beautifully located on a clean, pristine beach, with calm waters. The entire property is very well maintained, clean and there is not an hour in the day that the stuff would not be cleaning, raking, wiping and making sure that all is in super order. They simply don't know what else and how much to do for you. Especial high five to the stuff at breakfast time and Domingo at the Sports Center - you have made our week extra enjoyable in Samana. We can not wait to go back to this resort soon!

Site enchanteur et sauvage, nourriture passable

Passé un magnifique séjour rien a redire attention aux coups de soleil protégez vous bien et souvent... ;-)

This is a very relaxing resort that has a wonderful beach and beautiful grounds. We could always find a lounger in the shade at the beach but it was a little harder around the pool but we were usually succesful. It is NOT a party place so if that is what you are looking for I would not recommend it. The Samana area is beautiful and mountainous and it is worth doing at least one excursion. We did the ATV and Zipline excursion and loved it. Please be aware that there are many people who smoke at the resort and it is difficult to escape this since their attitude to smoking is very different from us here in Canada. We are not smokers and it did bother me at times. That is the one thing I wish the hotel would change and make more areas non-smoking.

Overall just a great place to spend your vacation either as a couple or family. You will not be dissapointed as long as you review the following pros and cons to see if this fits your style:

Pros:
-Amazing beach with very clear water and great coral for snorkling
-Very friendly and accomodating staff
-Fun entertainment throughout the day (at the beach and pool) and into the evening (theatre shows)
-Good food with lots of selection either at the buffet or a la cartes
-Very clean and well kept
-Short walks to the pool and beach no matter where you are situated on the resort

Cons:
-The pool areas are pretty small and very basic (no swim up bars, waterfalls, or anything else fancy) plus the chairs are always taken by people who don't even use them
-The drive from the airport is very long, however if you mention about taking the new road, it only costs $35 per bus load and saves an hour
-The night life is little to none (disco was dead each night and the live music at the lobby bar ended as soon as the theatre show started at 9pm daily)

Really, the cons mentioned above aren't that bad and as long as you're not looking for a big party resort, this is definately the place to go. ENJOY!!!

The people, service, food, drinks were all great.

Very nice location and service, friendly people.

a great week.fantastic beach.maids and grounds keepers are the best.the only down side was the cash machine was broken the whole week.

The resort was excellent. You can walk to beach in both directions safely, and for miles! All the way into Las Terrenas, even. The evening shows were hit or miss, but the staff was great overall (as performers, and during the day). The only downside is the drive from the airport is over an hour, but it was worth it. I'd go back

We were 2-nd time in half a year in GRAN BAHIA PRINCIPE EL PORTILLO.
The room and room service were perfect.
The weather was cold even for January - 18-24 degrees Celsius. Entertainment was worst than half a year ago. There was completely nothing to do from 7 to 9 in the evening. Dances in the lobby were only once during the week. Food was good.

The hotel is very clean and well taken care of. We highly recommend this property and I have been to the DR about 25 times. There are no oceanview rooms specific and the pools are small but the ocean/beach is INCREDIBLE. The snorkelling was amazing. The food was good too and the al a cartes were very easy to get into. They were also very good. Of all my stays in the DR I would suggest the entertainment at this hotel was well thought out, funny and very entertaining. The Dominican's are VERY talented people. They are lovely people in general and they can teach the North American's about LIFE..Live in the moment as they do and Life will NOT stress you!!!!!! LOVED this place and we honestly had the BEST trip ever. Hats off to all who took care of us. We will be back in the fall..for longer of course...Love you all

Nous avons aimé notre voyage. Belle plage. Bonne animation. Nous avons très bien mangé. Pour les sports nautique, il y avait seulement 1 catamaran et il était brisé. La chambre était o.k. sans plus (suite junior)mais très propre. En général nous avons aimé notre séjour et recommande cette destination.

This was our third trip to the hotel as repeating guests. We love the beach and location. It is easy for us to travel from Toronto to Samana. The road to the resort has been improved and shortened.

Hotel grounds are pristine and well maintained, rooms, ours was Gold, are less well maintained and not as clean. Basic items standard in other similar resorts are missing and to our surprised they charge $4/day to use the room safe. We travel with another couple booked and paid more than 2 months in advance but end up on a complex at back of resort away from beach and amenities while other folks who booked much latter were on complexes closer to the beach. We asked why but were given the run around that they were fully booked and that we hadn't specifically asked to be by the beach etc.. Not what we expected when you pay extra.

This was not our first visit to this hotel, nor will it be the last..I would highly recommend it to all..It is very clean, well staffed,and a very quiet area where you feel totally relaxed.

We had problems in bathroom but were fixed immediately. Excellent! Excursions were expensive so we didn't do any.
Weather was so so. The gym was awful. Broken machines, old bikes, air conditioned, but not on you while you worked out. Needs improvement. Vendors sold junk on the beach. Worst trinkets I have ever seen peddled on the beach.
Workers at the hotel were great, right from gardeners to house keeping.

Hotel staff made all the diffrence from the front desk, animation staff to the maintnance crew. We stayed at the hotel for 14 days and experienced a major flight delay on departure day; rather than have us wait at the airport, transat vacations and El Potillo hotel setup a complimentary night stay for all of us which gave us an extra day vacation. Better then staying overnight at the airport!!
We experienced a clogged toilet for no reason and maintnance staff was on the job surprisingly fast.

Wonderful relaxing vacation in a beautiful natural tropical setting.
Very clean and comfortable room.
Well maintained pool and property.
Very friendly and helpful staff.
Good variety of food.

Quelle belle découverte! Une région encore peu développée, des paysages à couper le souffle, un site superbe avec une végétation extraordinaire...Heureusement nous étions dans le bloc deux, à proximité de tout (plage, piscine, restos et buffet); certains blocs peuvent être assez loin de l'action...

Une très bel endroit pour se reposer. Très tranquille. Un petit site où il n'est pas nécessaire de marcher beaucoup pour aller aux différents points du complexe ou à la plage. La plage est très bien surveillé et très peu de vendeurs sur la plage.

un tres bel endroit , tranquille plage sans vague .

Only front desk staff unfriendly. Others seemed to have issues, but our stay here was very pleasant, quiet and nice. Love the location and beach.

beautiful hotel, had a excellent vacaciones, and We'll be back again.

We very much enjoyed our week at the El Portillo. We were a little anxious about the hurricane that was to pass by on Monday night so we lost a couple of days due to wind and rain. After the weather cleared we were able to enjoy the rest of our trip. The beach was lovely with lots of palapas and never an issue getting a spot. The actual beach property in front of the hotel is not very long however the tour rep advises that you can walk for 2-1/2 hrs to the left of the hotel (towards Las Terrenas). To go off the property you need to sign out with the guard. Lots of coral in the water, bring your water shoes - very little seaweed, beach very clean. A nice feature was that the water is very shallow so you can go and sit in the water to cool off. Lots of small fish and some guests were throwing a little banana in to get the more colourful fish to come closer from the coral. Food was excellent at the buffet, something for everyone, lots of fresh fish - food does get repetitive but that is to be expected at an all inclusive. Service amazing, after a couple of days we had a regular table and the servers knew what we liked to drink and had it set up soon after we sat down. The beach snack bar area is a lovely place to sit for a drink and a break from the beach. There is free wireless in the lobby but we were unable to connect other than one day - others seemed to get through. Beach vendors were easily waved off but a little annoying as the beach is small so they were back and forth all the time with there goods to sell. The rooms are very well appointed, marble bathroom with separate shower and jacuzzi tub. 2 bottles of water per day, mini bar restocked daily. Drive from airport was not bad, tour operator keeps you amused. New road going in that will cut the drive by one hour. We took the 'scenic' route back to the airport on the edge of mountain and saw some wonderful views of Samana Bay. The Animation Team was very low key - hardly knew they were there. All in all a great trip, better if we did not lose a couple of days for Irene. Good value for the money.

Probably more of a 4 star hotel, nice grounds, food very good, pool ok, beach awesome!!!

Bel hotel pour couple et repos. Les chutes a el-Limon est un MUST

The resort is not so big and very secluded, well maintained and beautiful. Our suit was spacious and spotless. Food was really good; main buffet had varies themes every night, a-la-carte restaurants had good menus. Animations team work really hard to make sure you are having a good time! Beach and pool activities were fun to participate, but some night shows should be improved. Beach is fantastic! The snorkelling was a bonus.

Beautiful beach and water. Bad restaurants and food, only half of the bars open, small swimming pool, etc. Overall poor management. Choose a different resort, trust my review!