Bahia Principe Fantasia Punta Cana - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

2912 reviews

• 

  Do not book Fantasia, try one of the others

  Our room had mould all over the bedroom and bathroom ceilings, absolutely disgusting, probably caused by extractor fans. Lights hanging off ceilings. Room smelt of damp. Food in the buffet luke warm. Miserable staff at the Fantasia bar at the beach. Towel depot always shut on the beach so had to walk to another hotel to get one. The entertainment one night gave sweets to loads of kids, not all so many were crying. They were painting the outside of our rooms whilst we were there with paint all over our inflatables and toys. Would not recommend.

  Jun 16, 2025
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  Family Vacation with Young Children

  Check-in was decently quick; although we requested a first floor room due to having a stroller, they originally assigned us to a third floor room set up with birthday decor for our daughter. They quickly switched us to a first floor room, however the birthday decor took several reminders to finally be set up the day of her birthday in our new room. For birthday decor, they put a banner on your door, tie the window curtain up pretty, add some flower petals/balloons and leave a chocolate(?) castle dessert piece in your room. They mentioned a cake but we never received one. The room itself is dated but functional. Floors are EXTREMELY slippery when wet. Doorway entrance area is VERY cramped if you have a stroller. Air conditioner wasn’t very strong. Not many plug sockets. Tons of mosquitoes get into the room through the cracks of the door. Room service was super convenient, however although available on the app, it doesn’t work; make sure to call your order in. The complex itself is nice, good size. However due to renovations at Grand Punta Cana, getting around via their train system was not the easiest; we never made it over to the Turquesa waterpark to compare to Fantasia’s. Lobby is open air and attached to some shops, the main buffet, two a la cartes only for Fantasia guests, a bar, show stage and the Game Center. The Game Center was closed for renovations which we did not know about prior to our stay as this was something we were looking forward to for the kids. We talked to the desk right next to these stairs and suggested they remove the sign if it’s closed so others don’t carry their strollers and lug their kids all the way downstairs to discover it’s closed but they just re-aligned it. No signage to indicate it’s closed until you reach the doors. There are three sets of ramps to get up to the lobby, however the one right by Building 98 is bumpy and steep at the very bottom as if they built it on top of a tree stump. The evening shows repeat weekly but with the lobby being open air and exposed to the heat and bugs, it was extremely uncomfortable to sit through a whole show. For a resort catered to kids, the shows did not start until 9:00pm which was too late in our opinion as most nights our kids were already falling asleep and demanding to go back to the room or asleep in the stroller. The castle show that happens at 8:30pm every night was okay, but not something you’d really care to watch more than once. Beach is a short train ride or 5 min walk down the road. There is a specified Fantasia section with a buffet/bar right behind it. Next to it is the Punta Cana resort Fantasia guests can also use. The Truck and one of their main pools is right there. On the other side of the pool is the Olas Beach house where some of the available a la cartes for Fantasia guests are located. Vendors who are not affiliated with the resort walk up and down everyday with souvenirs, jewelry, clothes, excursions and hair braiding services to sell. The waterpark was a highlight for our kids. They were so excited to go there, however the excitement did wear off after a week and they didn’t care for it the last few days we were there. The little snack bar was super convenient for a quick drink or chips. We loved the BBQ lunch served at the garden circus (nearly) everyday. Made it easy to not have to go all the way to the lobby for the buffet lunch. The main pool was good too, three different sections with two being identical with semi-working jacuzzis and being quieter. The big main section had a nice shallow end for kids to play in and acted as sort of a stage for their entertainment team. We visited The Village twice after dinner at the Olas Beach House since there is a train from there that takes you to The Village directly. It was a large square with shop vendors to buy souvenirs and necessities (at a premium) if forgotten at home. Haggling is accepted, generally the more you buy, the bigger the “discount” the shop will give is. The Kids Club seemed to be sort of a “summer camp” for ALL ages 4 and up. We saw some pictures that looked like parents had the option to stay with their kids when doing activities but when we stopped by with our kids we were told we had to drop them off which we were not comfortable with so we did not utilize the Kids Club at all during our stay. The interior also seemed underwhelming with one “game” room of video games and a foosball table and another room with tables and chairs for drawing. Then there was a small baby room with cribs and a few toys they let us stay in for a bit for our kids to just do some drawing which they quickly got bored with. We only did the buffet for dinner our first night but did not acclimate well to the open air style so we avoided the main buffet other than for lunch one day. We preferred the quieter setting of the Garden Circus for buffet breakfast and cookout lunch. We booked our a la cartes via the app before arrival and had no issues with cancelling/rescheduling (if available) while we were there. They were good in general with the Garden Circus Steakhouse and Rodizio being our favorites. The Italian was also good but the portions were tiny, had my favorite desserts which we often skipped because we were so full from the appetizers and entrees. We tipped anywhere between $1-10 USD depending on the service/quality. Some of the staff at the Garden Circus were wonderful and remembered our usual drink orders. Not sure if it was the sun/hot weather, food (son had the beef/steak dish at Il Paradiso the night he got sick and my daughter and I got sick the night after eating at Tequila), travel in general or a combination but I along with two of my kids got sick. Woke up throwing up in the middle of the night. Called to ask for help with cleaning the floor where my kids had thrown up and ended up waiting over an hour. As many other reviews have noted, this resort is great for young kids but we wouldn’t choose it again to return to when our kids are older.

  Jun 15, 2025
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  Bahia Principe Fantasia - Great Vacation

  Very family friendly, great service, food selection good. I would recommend. Five minute walk to the beach and other restaurants as well as for purchase excursions. Alternatively, instead of walking, you can ride down to the same area and back if you want to relax.

  Jun 13, 2025
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  3.5 out of 5, good holiday but hotel needs to improve in areas

  Getting there -flight was great -passport control was a nightmare, super long queues.  -transfer short, but had to wait a while to set off from the airport  - check in - despite booking a year ago and having 2 rooms on the booking the rooms were not together, they acted like did us a favour getting rooms on the same floor, why were the rooms not next door to one another? I tried to contact the hotel beforehand re this but getting a response was tricky. Rooms -room shabby, sofa bed dirty and not made up, so basically arrived to a room for 2 not 3. Had to call concierge to make up the sofa bed. Sometimes had holes in our bedding. -took us a while to figure out the air con. -fan over our toilet leaked 3 times. -room service was great, came quickly. -mini fridge was great, always filled up. -rooms were a good size and we slept well. -one night our lock broke and they couldn't fix it. Took an hour and a half of us waiting in a boiling hot corridor. One of the night managers during this issue was extremely rude.  -maintenance issues are apparent across the complex but generally the hotel was clean. Pool  -woman changing soiled baby over the sink on the first day, disgusting, not the hotels fault. I reported this and staff arranged for the toilets to be cleaned.  -pool and most outdoor public toilets were tired, poorly maintained and didn't lock/shut. -pool itself was lovely and warm. -entertainment around the pool was ok. Loved Aqua spin. But the music just got louder and louder. We preferred the quiet side in the end! -lots of loungers but could do with more umbrellas, some umbrellas were broken.  -ran out of beer and ice creams a few times. Beach -we enjoyed the beach and the fantasia beach buffet was nice, food often cold. -plenty of beds and shade. Waterpark -kids loved it here. -fab snacks and they have Popsicles, loved the hotdogs and they had crisps and a selection of fruit. Staff -staff often disinterested and lacked attentiveness. Some staff were good though especially at the waterpark and some of the ladies around the pool. Bus drivers were always friendly, beep beep.  -poor guidance on where things are and what we can use, a paper handout is needed! -we tipped little and very often.  -some staff didn't understand what we were asking for, led to a few incorrect drinks etc and our children sometimes struggled to get what they asked for if we let them go to the pool bar for an ice cream etc. Same at kids club if they asked for water (agua). Food and drinks  -terrible first night in the buffet, seated another family before us. Food cold. unfortunately the food was often cold at the buffets, service was mixed.  -service and food in tequila al a carte was awful. -would recommend the teppanyaki, the oriental, the garden circus and the Italian. Book on app 10 days before you travel, they do get full.  -enjoyed the drinks, especially the mudslide and banana mamas. -lunch bbq at the garden circus was ok, people pushing in etc made it hard work. -Food truck was ok but we only went there once, we preferred the waterpark for those type of snacks.  -use the buses to get around and make sure you know whereabouts your al a carte is! Travelling around the complex takes time.  Trips -both booked through tui. -late coco bongos pick up but once we got there had a great night. Included an open bar and a snack. We should have paid for the waiter service. -monkeyland really good for a shorter trip. We were late getting back and the guide made a detour to get us back sooner as we had a meal booked.  -reasonably priced souvenirs in the monkeyland shop with no mither. -tui rep room is at the front of the hotel next to the shops. Nighttime  -it is hot! You do not need a cardigan! Take plenty of repellent.  -entertainment not the best, repeated the same programme in the second week. -Kids enjoyed the 730pm mini disco, games etc. But we sometimes missed this if at an al a carte. Check the app for what's on.  Kids club -Kids enjoyed this, open 9 till 6.  -use the app entertainment programme to see what's on. -they do take them swimming to the beach etc so tell them any requirements etc you have.  We were disappointed by the hotel and there were a few ups and downs! However, there were positives and there is plenty of room for some quick improvements. We met lots of lovely people and the children loved it. The weather was amazing and most parts of the hotel are nice. Plenty of space around the pool and at the beach. Research before you go, I wish I had read up a bit more! Don't forget lots of suncream, mosquito repellent, mosquito bands and mosquito bite relief cream. Tui cabin crew, don't forget to tell people to stay off the flight maps, or the screens will all need to be reset!!!

  Jun 10, 2025
• 

  Another great stay

  This was our second trip to the Fantasia. We went for a week right before COVID hit and really enjoyed our time there, so we decided to try it again. I would say that it has gone downhill a little bit and could use some refreshing, but it's still a really nice resort. My kids are now 13, 11, and 9, so if I had to do it again, I would just choose a regular resort -- the castle is not really exciting for them anymore. That said, we really enjoyed our stay. If you're considering it and you're reading horror stories on here, realize that most people are extremely ridiculous. A five star hotel in the Dominican != a five star hotel in another country like Canada or the US. Yes, there were mosquitoes at night, but no they did not eat us alive. No, there were no insects or mosquitoes in our rooms -- I imagine that everyone complaining about mosquitoes in their rooms is not very careful about quickly closing the door when they enter their room. Yes, we did see one or two cockroaches in our 11 days there -- newsflash: it's a tropical climate and there are going to be bugs. Also, I would note that restaurants all around the world have to deal with cockroaches. Get over yourself. The Larimar buffet and the Garden Circus buffet were both nice options for breakfast and lunch (and supper, in the case of Larimar), with plenty of variety for everyone. There are always several stations where you can have food freshly made (e.g., an omelette for breakfast, pasta for lunch, steak/chicken for supper) so if you don't like any of the many buffet dishes, you can have something made just for you. The à la carte restaurants varied in their quality, but they were all reasonably good and some were excellent. We went in late May and were fortunate that the sargassum was not too bad for most of our trip. It did get really bad in the last two days or so, to the point that the beach was unusable. This didn't really bother us -- we just went to the pool and enjoyed drinks being brought to us regularly by our server, Delcia (who was fantastic and brought us all sorts of delicious drinks). While the sargassum is certainly not the resort's fault, their response to it was perhaps a bit lacking. Other resorts at least move the sargassum aside into piles -- the Fantasia just seemed to leave it. On our second last night, we were sitting at the Tex Mex restaurant which is an open-air restaurant that overlooks the beach and the ocean. They did finally have a backhoe picking up loads of sargassum and moving them. Unfortunately, every time they did so, we got an overpowering waft of rotting sargassum that took several minutes to dissipate each time. Not very appetizing while you're trying to eat a meal. It would be ideal if they would do the moving after the restaurants close -- we are paying good money to be there, after all. Overall, though, we had another excellent stay at the Fantasia and really enjoyed our time there. If you're considering taking your kids there, you'll have an excellent time.

  Jun 06, 2025