Resort Details
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
4240 reviews
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Apr 14, 2025Not 5 star, they inflate reviews
UPDATED: This is not a "five star" resort. It was a solid 3.5 as someone who does not usually do all inclusives. the good: Most of the staff is so so welcoming, friendly, and HARD WORKING. They were super quick to respond to issues, of which we had a few. The quiet pool is lovely, bartenders and towel staff are top tier. NOT GOOD: Rooms very outdated and dirty. we had to ask the front desk to do a deep clean which didn't really turn into anything other than our room smelling more like bleach, but they did give us newer sheets without stains, and robes that didn't smell anymore. Biggest complaint - We understand why the reviews are so high (inflated) it was very uncomfortable when we had the entertainment staff on several different occasions coming up to us while lounging at the pool and being very pushy about leaving them a five star google review so that "their bosses see they hit their numbers," and that "their performance review depends on it." They would literally say "here, if you give me your phone I will do it for you." NOW it make sense why this place has such high reviews. The food - the buffets honestly were more consistently OK than any of the restaurants. Japanese spot is inedible, the only good meal was at Pescador, and once at Don Pablo (just ok). The biggest issue we had was communication with their shuttle provider - they have the representative in the lobby, but it was impossible for us to get hold of him or understand how the return shuttle to the airport worked. We tried several times with both the front desk, concierge, and the company themselves. as a partner of the resort, they should have been more helpful and held this company accountable. it was 250 for us to do a round trip shared transfer - and they left without us on the return!!! We had to get a taxi, which was $85 in cash. The shuttle service is absolutely a scam and waste of money. When we learned they left us, the man was so rude and dismissive, and they did nothing to help us - instead they sent us messages on whatsapp telling us it was our fault (when we had asked several times to know when we were supposed to be in the lobby to leave, and no one could tell us). Overall, will not be returning and I do not think I would go to their other properties knowing all this.
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Apr 14, 2025Third Time Here Probally Our Last !!!! ( Dated, Jelly fish , Sand Bees )
First off we will say this is our Third time at bouganville, and we highly recommend this resort for service, quiet location , 40 plus resort, very relaxing and amazing staff. But wont be back...... Check In : Check in we did have issues getting our Black Friday promotion we were to get when we got to the resort , even with documentation. The front desk ( clearly was not understanding on purpose ) . We were very disappointed as it was a 1100$ credit for resort activities ( Spa, Casino , Late Check out , Special dinners ..... ) we contacted our travel agents on site . They are disputing it for us. But said don't expect much if anything . ( Just a heads up on promotions , buyers beware ) Service: The dinners in all the al A la carts we on point ,delicious and well appointed. Lady's at the jacuzzi bar were amazing . This was our favorite spot under the palapa 's ( Celeste, Josephine, Leidy ) ( spiced rum and cola and spiced rum with pinapple. ) mmmmm. Main Lobby services was on point as well always drinks fast and remembered our drinks from day one ( Izabel , Partica ) . Room : Room 53105 was always very Clean everyday ( Neveice ) great location of this block we faced the back and was so quiet. The rooms though always clean are very dated and tired and this is our biggest issue. MOLD spots on walls and ceiling leaking facets and shower, room fridge wires were frayed and had to have them come a couple times to Micky mouse the fridge. Sheets were clean but dingy . We did not spend a lot of time in the room as the weather was great the week we week were there. so we were lucky. I will say this is the reason we will not be back the rooms are in dire need of updating like NOW. Beach: We honestly loved the walk ability of the beach the last two times we were at Bouganville. This time the beach area around the loungers we swarming with sand bees. we will attach a video it was unreal and all day long around the loungers on the beach area. JELLY FISH , all along the beach when walking close to the water . we counted 15 jelly fish during our stay. GOD knows how many were in the water . We told some workers but they seemed again not interested in our concern . So we just told people as we passed to watch out but one guy did get stung and had to be carried away unfortunately . After seeing one Jelly fish we did not attempt to go in the water due to being nervous. Entertainment : The resort has a one week schedule to rotate the entertainment. Third time here and the entertainment is still the same .... Exactly the same , every day on the rotation . The entertainers did an amazing job , but very routine and got a bit dry. Even first time guest had not much good to say. ( Maria Maria, Nicki Minaj , Roberto from Africa ) helped to make it as enjoyable as could be :) around the pool and in the evenings. Pools : Lots of pool areas to relax , quiet pool , party pool , jacuzzi pool ( our favorite ) always loungers in all areas. Overall Review , of ressort : Usually we give this resort 5 out of 5. this time we give it a 3 out of 5 , as its rooms are degrading they need immediate attention and upgrading . Poor attentiveness and familiarity of promotions they advertise. The beach quality of bugs , Sand Bees and taking care of jelly fish on the beach shore. Unfortunately we will not be back till things are upgraded. D & T ( 53105 )
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Apr 12, 2025BP Bougainville - worth it. Just go.
Spent a week here. Ignore the vast majority of the 1-star reviews. For the average traveler this place is extremely nice. I've stayed at Ambar twice, and I would probably return to it before this place, just because I liked the layout and feel of it better. This place is good though, overall. Bring a couple hundred USD in smaller bills, tip a few bucks at meals and look after your cleaners and you'll have a great week. The staff are really great. Shout out to Juaquin (server in the buffet and restaurant by the quiet pool) and Roberto (from Nigeria, he's in entertainment by the party pool). Awesome guys. Pros: Check-in was fine, even as a late night check-in this time. They put my wife and I in a room with 2 double beds, and were able to switch us to one with a king the next day. There was a problem with the safe, and they figured it out quickly and the guys were really apologetic and kind about it. You could tell the staff worked hard, and were friendly with us the whole time. GREAT coffee, name brand drinks and capable barkeeps and servers. We really liked the buffet offerings, though it was repetitive it was decent. The entertainment was fun in the lobby, and all seemed to have fun. The dinners at restaurants were all good. Takara in particular was spectacular. We had no trouble finding beach or pool chairs, and overall were able to successfully chase the shade when it got too hot. Always a cool drink near if you need it. Cons - these are really not that big of a deal for the average traveler. The rooms are a bit dated, sure. But they're clean and the crews work hard to keep it that way. The odd door rubs on the frame, maybe a shower head loose, stuff like that. We never tried the tub, because it takes a long time to fill. You have to use bottled water here, for coffee or drinking water, which is unfortunate. We didn't have problems on this trip with cholera, but you've got to be careful. All in all is little stuff. I found the worst thing about the buffet were the tourists, to be honest. Aimless wandering and entitlement. I go on vacation to avoid people mostly, and they seem to find a way to encroach your space. The Beach is nice for a view. The water's murky and seems to be perpetually the home of jellyfish, as the flags stayed up for that. We went in and kept our heads above water (cholera) and it was fine, but we got out after cooling off. Ignore the wasps, they won't bother you. They are simply sand wasps and feed on flies. They are not aggressive to humans and are beneficial to the ecosystem. People freak out about them but they literally don't care that you're there. The pools were ok and you'll enjoy the jacuzzi cooling pool in the morning. By afternoon is hot water and sandy which gets all over you, from people treating it like a foot wash. You'll enjoy this place, just don't expect it to be Turks and Caicos type of experience. They are good people here, and you should have a good time. It's smaller than the Ambar location, which is nice in stone respects.
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Apr 10, 2025Excellent week with great service
What a great week. We had an amazing time with friends. The service was exceptional from all staff. The entertainment staff was the best we have seen, high energy and got everyone involved. The ocean water is murky but the beach, although not powdery, was beautifully aligned with many palm trees. We enjoyed all the pools. The buffets were plentiful, including seafood/fish. There was an assortment of fruit and desserts as well. The bars also had a great selection of name brand alcohol. We would definitely return.
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Apr 09, 2025
Failed to Live up to Expectations
This was our second visit to the Bahia Principe Luxury Bougainville, we chose to go back to celebrate our retirement, in all honesty we wish we hadn’t. The airport, transfer etc went as expected and when we arrived at the hotel we started to check-in then a couple came out of nowhere and rudely interrupted, (they didn’t care that there was a queue of people trying to check in), they distracted the staff member who was checking us in, he then tried to do two tasks at once which resulted in our check-in process taking a lot longer than it should. How rude some people are because clearly it’s all about them, but the member of staff should have told them to wait and get in the queue. The hotel had been advised that we were returning guests and celebrating our retirements, there was no recognition of this at all, we didn’t expect anything other than “Welcome Back” and “Congratulations”, nothing. The general appearance of the rooms was ok and the general cleanliness was 6/10 lots of dust on fixtures and fittings, and the shower hoses were disgusting and no way we were using the jacuzzi bath. The room needed some maintenance, there was a 2” gap between the toilet door and the glass panel , clearly something was missing and yet it looked like it had been missing for some time, one of the bottom drawers in a unit kept falling out because the runner that is supposed to be fixed in place wasn’t. We also had a number of issues with the safe, which as you can imagine left us a bit concerned, although after waiting around they did try and fix the problems. The buffet restaurants were of a reasonable standard although more often than not the food was only luke warm, the only way to guarantee hot food is to have it served from the cooking stations. We enjoyed the Takara a la carte restaurant, we also tried the Don Pablo Gourmet restaurant which is supposed to be the best they have and it comes with a dress code, which we knew about from last time, so we packed accordingly and made the effort on the evening only to find people in there with t-shirt, shorts and flip flops (some looked like they’d just come off the beach). If the hotel is going advertise it has a dress code then please enforce like you did during our last visit in 2023. Very disappointing that the hotel has let the standards slip, although just before we left and during our stay it was on the TUI and Bahia Principe website that long trousers and a shirt were required, they have now changed this, maybe this was as a result of my complaint to the TUI rep. We also tried the Italian restaurant, Capriccio, after finally getting a reservation on our 12th Night it was the worst Italian food we’ve ever had and we also noticed other people leaving most of their meals. The food was bland, I ordered a Shrimp Portofino salad, I managed to find 2 shrimps, my wife ordered the beef lasagne and said the sauce was awful, we left and went to the buffet restaurant. The drinks selection was generally good although what’s happened to the blenders at the Jacuzzi pool bar and beach bar, we really enjoyed having a mud slide cocktail back in 23 and yet this time we couldn’t get one unless you went to the lobby bar, come on, blenders are not that expensive. We didn’t really get involved with the daytime activities because when I tried to engage with the entertainment team they just didn’t seem interested, may be something to do with not speaking French or Spanish. We did enjoy our daily stroll along the beach front and it was nice to get some Caribbean sunshine. The Bahia Principe Luxury Bouganville had a bit of something for everyone, although we did notice that the general standards had gone down and on reflection we won’t be returning. We have heard that the Hyatt chain has bought the hotel and plans a major refurb, the hotel needs it. Overall we enjoyed our holiday but it wasn’t the special holiday we had hoped for.