Where do I start?!

We first came here in 2016 and had a fantastic time with no problems whatsoever. We decided to return in 2018 as we loved it so much. I’m now left wishing we hadn’t.

We arrived after a very long journey from the UK with 2 young children. We had asked for a room with 2 double beds and a cot for the baby. Whilst we understand the room requests aren’t guaranteed, the lady at reception confirmed that this is what we would have in our room. On arriving at the room we found there was 1 king size bed only (for 2 adults and a 7 year old child) and no cot despite reception assuring me there was one already there. There was also only 2 bath towels between the 4 of us, the room was clearly only set out for 2 people. There was also no fresh water in the room which we needed badly for the baby. I went back to reception, they said come back in the morning as they couldn’t deal with it!!

In the morning they said we could move to another room in a few days’ time, which we did. This room did have 2 beds, however the room was very grotty, the beds were soft causing us back problems, the room was clearly old and in need of refurbishment. I woke up at 5am as I couldn't sleep due to the bed being so uncomfortable and noticed ants crawling all over the wall, tv unit, my clothes and luggage and my children's clothes. There were also ants in the coffee machine and in the bathroom.

I went back to reception and was told by the overnight receptionist that nobody could deal with me until 9am which was a lie. He could have dealt with me but chose not to help me. At 8am we went to reception and spoke to Pepe who told us the hotel was fully booked and we could move rooms but not for another 2 nights and told us that we would specifically have villa 5403. In the meantime he told us that the ants would be dealt with. We were not happy that we would have to stay a further 2 nights but were told we had no choice!

We also told Alejandro the building supervisor that the beds were old and soft and he told us he would sort this out for us-we never heard from him again!! Pepe told us to come back only if we changed our mind and didn't want to move which we obviously didn't want to do.

On the 3rd April we checked at Reception and the lady confirmed we were due to change rooms the next day to 5403.
On the 4th April, 3 times I went to reception to collect our new room keys and was eventually told to come back at 15:30. We packed our cases ready to move and Pepe then tells us that they have given our new room 5403 to somebody else!!

Jonathan (who also goes by the name of Victor just to confuse matters further!), the ‘Customer Services Manager’ had been dealing with our initial complaint so I asked Pepe to call him on the radio. Pepe refused to do so and would not give me a reason. He was VERY rude and unhelpful and when I asked him why my room was given to somebody else he denied telling me that we were moving to 5403 and said I must be mistaken!! Jonathan told us the hotel is full as they are taking upgrades from Coba instead of looking after the people already staying at the Luxury hotel. This is why they gave room 5403 to someone else!! This is unacceptable.

Eventually we saw Jonathan (Victor) and moved to room 6005, 1 week after arriving!
This clearly massively spoilt our holiday, the staff at the hotel couldn’t care less and at no point was I even offered an apology for the catalogue of errors we had been subjected to.

I had booked the Mikado restaurant on the 2nd April which was my sons 7th birthday, however they had booked us the wrong time slot (despite me having an email confirming the correct time slot had been booked). Jonathan refused to accommodate us despite me having an email confirmation, we then had to eat far too early due to the hotel staff’s incompetence.

There is a distinct lack of umbrellas around the pool (I counted 1 umbrella for every TEN sunbeds!!!). In the end, as we have young children, I had to get up at 5am to get one!!! This is supposed to be a LUXURY hotel! I don’t think so. Everyone around the pool was complaining about this but the hotel did nothing. At the very least they should have hired some in. Given the cost of staying at this hotel, it really shouldn’t be too much to ask to expect a bit of shade from the sun for young children.

There was a big argument in the pool bar on with a large group of adults who had drunk far too much, with lots of children around, security and management were useless and failed to deal with the situation which resulted in this continuing for over an hour. Hotel staff unable to deal with this yet continued to serve drinks to the drunken people involved!! This is a family pool and staff should have dealt with it.
Due to all of the problems we had encountered, Jonathan (Victor) promised us a 25 minute back and shoulder massage each and seats at a showtable at the Mikado, public relations confirmed in the afternoon that no booking had been made. In order to have these, Jonathan told me we would have to sign a ‘contract’ basically promising not to mention our problems to other hotel guests or on social media. I told him that I would take the contract and read it overnight before signing, I would not sign it there and then. He said he would bring our 'contract' to my room at 5.30 then would pick us up at 6pm to personally drive us to the Mikado. By 6.10 he still hadn't arrived so we had to phone him, he told us he was busy with someone else so we walked to reception to meet him. He then gave us the 'contract' then told me I could not read it before signing! He tried to pressure and intimidate us into signing it. He then walked us to the restaurant as he couldn't get us a car (after telling us he had already pre-arranged one) only to be told that there was no showtable for us after all and we would have to sit at a normal table with a bottle of champagne as an apology!! We left immediately. There was no showtable booked all along, this was just another of his lies, he had wasted our evening and deliberately made us drag along our 2 young children across to Coba knowing full well there was no table waiting there for us. I attach a copy of the contract.

This was the final straw for us so I asked for Jonathans manager Nayra Gamboa to contact me Monday, which I was assured would happen. We did not hear from her until Tuesday (nothing ever gets done when they say it will at this hotel!). She promised me she would send me the Bahia Principe complaints email address 'immediately'. This was 11am. By 18:30 nothing received so I found her - she says she would send 'immediately'. By 9pm still not received so I threatened to contact the Regional Director for this area via LinkedIn. It was only at this point she provided the email address.

Nayra was slightly more helpful and at least offered me an apology (on our penultimate day). She also offered to upgrade our ‘compensation’ to a FULL body massage, instead of a neck and shoulder massage! Wow, don’t push the boat out too much. As we were going home the following day, it was all too little, too late.

Since returning home I have emailed and chased the hotel several times and on each occasion have got nowhere. The staff do not care one bit about it’s customers, if anything they treat them with contempt. The last email I had offered me $200 US as compensation which, frankly, is an insult. I wouldn’t lower myself to accept such an offer when my holiday cost the equivalent of $8,000 US and they ruined at least half of the holiday with all the running around and complaining I had to do, when I should have been relaxing with my family.

Oh and if you’re unfortunate enough to have a room next to a permanently drunk, amorous young couple, then you’d better get some earplugs as the walls are paper thin. The words ‘ohhhh Danny’ being screamed at all hours of the day and night will live with me forever. He even high fived himself afterwards as he was so good, so we heard him say through the bathroom ventilation.

At least Danny had a good time.

If you’re thinking of going here, think again. I seriously wouldn’t bother.

Bahia Principe
Safety is your own responsibility

We bought a tour via TUI at the so-called Luxury Bahia Principe on all inclusive basis. The hotel itself is based about 2 hour drive from the airport, so after 9 hour flight and almost hour at the passport control you will be there.
The queues at the check in a notoriously long, so brace yourself for another hour + waiting if arrived with a large group.
First day surprise – exit tax of 250 USD. Straight at the airport we were told to set aside 250 USD exit tax from Mexico in cash. All tourists who fly to and from Mexico must pay the Mexican Tourism Tax and the International Airport Departure Tax.
Almost all airlines collect these taxes as part of the airfare (check your itemized receipt and you'll see them listed) so nothing to pay at any airport. However, TUI/Thomson of the UK do not collect these taxes which means passengers with TUI must pay them as a lump sum before checking in for their departure flight from Mexico. I am sure that it is somewhere in a fine print but it was a first day nasty surprise.

It was raining in August, so the whole complex had a smell of raptured sewage pipe. I am not quite sure whether it is a coincidence or not.

Tips for the future holiday makers to Luxury Bahia Principe:
- Petty crime is not uncommon around the swimming pools and the lagoons. All snorkeling equipment, balls, etc. Take a permanent marker with you and sign every item with a bright colour, down to the flip flops. The Hotel personnel is extremely unhelpful, sloppy shoulders for any responsibility.
- The USA dollar is a king. Bring only USA dollars. Cash machine (ATM) at the hotel will charge you over 10% convenience fee (for any sum) at a very rude exchanging rate, do not bother with any other currencies or peso.
- The exchange rate as in any emerging country air port. Hotel buys USA dollars at 16, sells at 18.5 (market exchange rate is 17). If you buy something at 100 USD, the hotel will charge you 1,850 pesos and at the check in time, you will pay 116 USD. The only way to avoid this 15-20% surcharge is by bringing USD in cash for everything.
- Main visitors at the time of our vacation where from Western Europe and out of 2 weeks the swimming pool was closed about 4 days, because of the “poo alert”. Western Europeans tend to drink too much and relax so much by accidentally releasing poo in the pool or not looking after their kids. After that the swimming pool is closed for the rest of the day.

We paid 300 USD extra to get a sea view room and is really worth, if you can afford. Most of the rooms are now within walking distance, you need to wait for shuttle bus. Its all cure but you will spending 1-1 ½ hours a day. It waste of time. Although the remote areas are heavily popular among British and they are very loud (especially when drunk).