I stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo between April 21st and April 28th.
I must say that the overall experience is well worth it and the location amazing. But, of course, it all depends on one's expectations and what you want from your vacation.
I wanted a good rest but especially a change of scenery and in my case I always like to get to know the country and the people.
My rating is without a doubt 5 star for the location and surroundings and a 3 to 4 star for the hotel itself.
The hotel is overall very well kept and very clean and the room was well located and confortable. Although the maid/cleaning service in the rooms is just average in the rest of the resort it is well above average and the place is kept spotless - not an easy task when it's pouring, which it did for a bit everyday during our stay (don't be discouraged though, as you may get the heavy rain for an hour or so, in our case mostly in the evening around 7 pm, but the weather always improves and is great the rest of the time).
A special note to the hotel staff, always smiling, willing and eager to please, which undoubtedly helps to make it a very nice stay.
The beach is ideal, a long stretch of white sand and palm trees and the water is clear, great to swin in and full of tropical fish right at your feet!
I found that basically the only not so good thing at the hotel was the food, even at the a la card restaurants - The Pescador was good, but the other two, the Gourmet and Oriental just ok.
At the buffet restaurant the food is not too good either, that meaning it is not a 4 or 5 star cuisine, but if you're not too picky it is basically ok - with so many options you will always find something you like to eat - even if it is some "pollo" (chicken, always available in some form), or pizza or pasta, if nothing else pleases you. A good selection of cheese and local fruit is always available, and the bread buffet is really good.
The breakfast buffet was, in my opinion, a lot better compared to the rest of the meals, and no negative remarks there!
If you can, don't miss the opportunity to take a tour outside the hotel as one of the strong points of this resort is the surroundings - we did, we took 4 tours (!) and we loved it.
Don't miss the opportunity to get to know the surroundings and the country you're in. For us, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it. Just don't expect luxury or to be pampered around, it's all quite informal and although professional and confortable enough you should keep an open mind and go on an adventurous mood.
The scenery is amazing and you will see and learn much more than in your average beach resort vacation (the boat trip to Los Haitises, the land "safari" with some serious bumping in less travelled roads and amazing green scenery, the "fiesta mood" catamaran trip to Cayo Levantado, and the half day trip to El Limon waterfall, despite the neverending steps down and back up!).
So, basically a well worth experience and an amazing location to enjoy the sun and the sea (but not just) in a very much less crowded Republica Dominicana.

I was at the GBP El Portillo from April 7 to April 14 2008. Please, forgive my not so great english, as it is not my native language.

We booked with Nolitours last summer and were supposed to get a standard room but the hotel upgraded us to a junior suite. The room was ready for us upon arrival at noon which was really nice. The room was beautiful and very clean, the minibar stocked every day. We were in villa #3, which is in a central location.

The beach is gorgeous! It's a gold sand beach, but really, the pictures does not do the beach justice. Nice coral patches close to shore, great for a bit of snorkelling, but there are also nice clear spots with sandy bottom to swim. A perfect beach for long walks.

The staff is very friendly and helpful. They are always smiling, and are trying very hard. Apart from the staff and the reception and a few others on the resort, very few speak english or french fluently, so my basic spanish was helpful and appreciated. I heard some people complain about having their orders mixed up at the a la carte restaurants, but as I ordered from the spanish menu, I never had a problem,

The food was okay, some times even very good, but remember that it helps to be a bit adventurous. The buffet caters to a lot of different nationalities, so a lot of the items offered might not be too familiar to north americans. Really, I was enjoying trying everything and I am not a picky eater. The wine is not great but drinkable.

The drinks are also very good, especially at the lobby bar (I loved the caiphirinias). All the bar staff was great, warm and friendly. They obviously did not expected tips (I haven't seen many people tipping), but It was greatly appreciated, as they do not make much. Same thing at the buffet.

Reception staff was always willing to help, and we never seem to bother them. They helped us organise some tours by private taxi, as most of the tours we booked got cancelled because they did not have the minimum participants required. The Samana Peninsula is very beautiful, and it would have been a shame not to take the opportunity to explore it. We visited Los Haitises (not to miss!), Cayo Levantado (which I did not care much for), Playa Rincon (gorgeous!), the town of Samana, and walked a couple of times to Las Terrenas. It's a gorgeous walk to town, and it is safe to do so, as long as you are a bit smart (don't bring loads of cash, wear designer clothing and jewellery). There's also nice bars to dance to latin music, if you like that sort of thing.

Animation staff is working very hard and really want you to be happy. I have seen them starting their day at 7:30 am when they finished at 2:00 am the night before. However, I did not care much for the shows (some of them were really bad!), but to tell the truth, I am not into that sort of things. I enjoyed it when they were doing Dominican dancing, but most of the time, they are doing shows to please a crowd of europeans and north americans (like the Cher in Las Vegas Night, argh!). It's the animation staff that is also doing the shows, they do not have dancers there, but a few of them are really talented. They are also friendy with everyone, no matter your age, look or nationality (I have not seen that often before).

I also have to mention our Transat/Nolitours rep (Jean-Caude). He was also very friendly and helpful, and I was very happy that he took the time during orientation to do a little bit of education on the reefs.

It was my first time in the DR, and I am glad I chose Samana and the GBP El Portillo. Cuba is my favourite destination, and after booking this trip, I had regrets that I did not booked Cuba again, I have to say that I am glad I did not changed my mind, as I had an amazing time and got to see the peninsula before it gets overcrowded with hotels. Cuba is still my favourite destination, but Samana and it's people are close second.

We had been searching resorts online, and this place looked wonderful! Well, we should have been looking for another place, as soon as we started booking, and realized that no flights from the U.S. land at the Samana airport. We had to pay for transfers from Puerto Plata, which is 4 hours away from the resort. Granted, we knew that before we left the states. We looked on the map, and we would be on a highway for most of the time. We knew the word "highway" would be a loose term, as we have been to Mexico & Jamaica before. I am not someone that gets carsick, nor was anyone else in our group, but this was the scariest ride any of us had ever been on in our lives! The traffic and the drivers in the D.R. are and adventure in themselves!

So, we finally got to the El Portillo and checked in. Our first problems: the safe in our friends' room was broken, and had to be fixed. Our showerhead was broken, and would not work. Next, our toilet was broken and needed to be fixed.

The ala carte food. The Asian Ala Carte was the best. The seafood restaraunt was almost inedible. As we were dining at the Gourmet restaraunt, all the electricity went out, and we were left sitting in the dark.

The Buffets. We tended to watch what we ate at the buffet. We had several dishes that were undercooked, and alot that didn't seem heated very well. Also, we noticed "leftovers" from previous buffets. I guess I wasn't picky enough.

We arrived on a Saturday. By Wednesday, I was sicker than I have ever been in my life. I have never went to see the Dr. at a resort on any vacation we have been on, but this was the time to do it. By Friday morning, I had shivered all night, and I was so happy my fever had broken, but I wanted to see the Dr. anyway. When we got to the Dr., my fever was stil 103°, and he told me that I probably was experiencing convulsions in the night, not just shivering. I was on I.V. drip, antibiotics, and a couple shots during the course of the morning, not to mention being iced down. I only found out after I got home, one of the other GBP resorts had been closed a couple weeks earlier, due to a "mystery bug", that involved "undercooked food".

Although it was a beautiful place, as you can see by the pics posted from the couple days I was able to enjoy, and by the pics taken by my husband, it was not beautiful enough for the illness I experienced, that continued and caused me an extra week off work when I got home. Because of this, I am wary of traveling to the Dominican again. We'll go back to the Riviera Maya again as we did before, but we will surely NEVER go back to a Gran Bahia resort.

My husband and I stayed at the GBP El Portillo from Mar. 31 - Apr 7 2008. We had chose to visit this resort from all the past reviews and forums. The number one reason we selected it was for the beach and the scenery, and we were not disappointed. The scenery is incredible. We travelled with AirTransat Royal Golden and we were happy with the upgrade, namely, our room. We requested to stay in Villa 1 and had a beautiful suite with a great view of the beach. The grounds are so well kept and the entire resort is immaculate.
The food, well we didn't come for the food, but were not disappointed. It was good, we certainly didn't go hungry, and didn't get sick. So I think that is the important thing. We tried all three a la cartes. The were all good, especially the gourment and the oriental. We are not seafood lovers, but visited the seafood restaurtant to try the beef ternderloin. We found that overall the beef was very rare, so ask for it well done and you'll get medium rare. But it was very tasty! The buffet had great selection of entrees and salads. We were not disappointed with the food at the buffet either. For breakfast we had omeletts every morning and ate outside. The cabana outside is a beautiful place to eat breakfast with the sounds of birds and the ocean. Definately our favourite meal of the day.
The rooms are beautiful. We had a suite with a king bed and a sitting area. The bathroom was marble with separate shower with glass door and a jacuzzi tub. The toilet was even in a separate stall with a glass door. Very nice touch. A couple of nights we sat out on our balcony, the sound of the waves crashing on the reef is incredible.
The beach is my favourite part. We could walk for miles either way on the beach and it was so quite. It was nice to walk early in the morning and steal some private time away. Felt like we were the only people on the earth...Again the scenery is incredible. Palm trees flanked by misty tree covered mountains in the distance. Views I will not forget. We took a catamaran ride out to the ocean, in my opinion this is not to miss. The view of the shoreline from miles out was extrodinary. The resort and a hilltop mansion are basically the only civilization to be seen. The week we were there was quite, which was nice, so the beach was never very busy. The staff organized a soccer game a couple of afternoons and this was fun to participate in. People from all different countries playing together. The coral reef was beautiful. Snorkeling was amazing. Best time is at low tide and you can walk out and see fish, sea urchins etc.
The pool is really nice as well. Very clean and well kept. The loungers are very comfortable by the pool. We spent the mornings at the beach and afternoons at the pool cooling off.
We did an excursion to El Limon waterfall and this was a highlight of our trip. Again, I can't stress how beautiful the scenery is. The horseback riding was fun. I have ridin horses before, so my guide kept my horse moving fast. When you get to the waterfall make sure to climb down even further and there is a couple of smaller waterfalls which are beautiful to see as well. The lunch served back at the ranch was really good. They will offer you a music cd with you pic on the cover at lunch. We bought ours and I am glad. Has some great Dominican music which is nice to listen to and reminice. Our cost was $12 American.
We traveled into Los Terrenas by cab. Cost was $20 for both ways. We arranged for our cab driver to pick us up at a specific time and he was not 1 minute late. We decided to get a drink and came upon a beach bar called Paco Cabana. What a great little spot. If you visit Los Terrenas, don't miss this spot. Right on the ocean, very relaxed atmosphere.
We met many wonderful people from many different countries and had a really great time. The beach party on Saturday night at the resort was a lot of fun. Good dancing and drinks.
To end my review, if you are looking for a relaxing getaway with beautiful natural scenery and a laid back atmoshere, this is the place to go. As mentioned in many of the other reviews, we were told that in a few years this place will be unrecognizable with many resorts going up. Many have already started. Get there quick. We would love to come back and visit many more of the natural wonders we couldn't fit in.