Wish you were here?
Hotel overview
You will love Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda for its colonial style, exquisite decoration and beautiful landscape throughout. Enjoy complete luxury and exclusive services. The spacious rooms are all Junior Suite Deluxe with canopy beds, hydro massage tubs and separate shower with beautiful garden or pool views. Experience the most luxurious brand of Bahia Principe which includes the facilities at Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro, Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana, Bahia Principe Grand Aquamarine and Bahia Principe Luxury Ambar. • Total of 26 restaurants, 34 bars and 9 swimming pools.
BRAND NEW! Las Olas Beach House is a newly built oceanfront restaurant area featuring new culinary specialties, available to guests of all hotels at Bahia Principe Bavaro complex*. This modern, contemporary two-story space has a surface area of 79.000 square feet. The ground floor features two beach restaurants, which respectively become a Rodizio and Mexican specialty restaurants at night, and a bar. There are three additional specialty restaurants for a la carte dinner on the top floor: Indian, Mediterranean and Fish Market.
Travelers who seek more personalized service, feeling completely at home on vacation in a harmonious atmosphere, with first-class service. Families with children who want luxury standards in Bavaro.
Location
Punta Cana - BeachProperty information
{{title}}
Hotel details
General policies & fine print
Check-in Policy - Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy - This hotel cannot guarantee a spring break-free environment.
Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price. Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Ratings & reviews
TripAdvisor traveler rating
9335 reviews
-
Mar 10, 2025LOVED EVERYTHING !!!
My family and I (4 people, 2 rooms) stayed 10 nights at the Esmeralda between Feb. 27 and March 9, 2025. We LOVED EVERYTHING about the resort. The food, beach, rooms, restaurants, grounds, pools, drinks and staff were all amazing. The Buffets have lots of fresh, interesting selections to chose from. The Italian and Mongolian restaurants were so so good ! Special shout to Juan, Carlos and Alberto at the main pool bar and to Kelvin at the Lobby Bar !! They provided excellent drinks and service and always had a smile. All the staff at the Esmeralda are excellent and very hard working. Everyone always says hello with a smile ! So please kindly tip ! The resort was recently remodelled and is well maintained and beautiful. The rooms are large, modern and well appointed with comfy king or double beds, a pull out sofa bed and lots of storage room. We stayed in Building 94 on the 3rd floor facing the interior of the resort. Very nice view and perfectly located close to everything. This is the thing we liked the most. Our son is developmentally disabled and has mobility issues. The Resort is compact and all facilities, restaurants, pools and beaches are a close and easy, short walk. The shuttle services to other Bahia Principe restaurants is also very convenient and easy to take. We spent our nights at the lobby, sports or patio bars. Drinks are great and interesting. The espressos and cappuccinos are excellent. We loved the laid back, relaxing vibe, especially at the outdoor patio bar. In summary, I just do not understand how people can give the Esmeralda a bad review. The resort is awesome and met all our expectations ! We have been to about 20 all inclusive resorts through out the Caribbean - and the Esmeralda has been our favourite. We would definitely return. Thank you to all for making our stay at the Esmeralda so wonderful !
-
Mar 10, 2025
Fantastic family vacation !
This place is amazing. The service was wonderful. The grounds and rooms were always clean. The entertainment staff were so much fun! If you go - do your check in 10 days prior and start to reserve dinners at a-la-cartes because they do fill up. One person out of 10 of us (me) had a difficult time with bug bites. Bring bug spray and your treatment of choice for bites. I used a combo of polysporin and Hydrocortisone. Helped but my legs and arms were very itchy. It did not ruin my trip - I was in paradise! The swim up room was beautiful. It was shaded half of the day and a welcome retreat from the sun and heat. We were here prior to renovations in 2023 and booked again this year to see what was new. The sports bar was great but would have liked a salad or something fresh on the menu as it is only friend foods. Delicious fried foods! The service was 100% better. Everyone was really friendly and it really added to our enjoyment of the trip. Once or twice a day we were asked about excursions or to see their timeshare presentation - once we said no they left us alone. You have to remember these people are working it's their job - same as any other country you go to - it was not overbearing at all. Some members of our party stayed an additional two days and saw the influx of March break families - we were glad to be the week prior because we gather it was PACKED with families.
-
Mar 10, 2025
Excellent Experience
Amazing experience on our Family vacation this March break with kids. Friendly staff, clean facilities, great entertainment, excellent food and service! Special thanks to Danilo at reception lobby for super easy check in, he is so attentive & friendly- made the first impression of the hotel hospitality- super welcoming!!!! Would definitely recommend this hotel to friends! Thank you Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda team - everyone works hard to make vacation memories & experiences for all of us - so Amazing!!! Highly recommend! 🌼
-
Mar 09, 2025
Our experience
TL;DR We loved it and had a great time! It was our second time in DR/PC with our 9&12 year old. Overall it was a smaller resort compared to ocean el faro / ocean riviera paradise but it never felt crowded, more comfortable. With access to several of the other hotels there is lots to explore. The wifi was good for us never had any issues but we were only using cell phones. Yes there were vendors at the beach but we declined politely and they moved along. They did prefer cash to card (you pay tax if paying with card). For little kids we were told by the airline rep that Fantasia (not at the beach though) is more geared towards the littles but for tweens and teens, Esmeralda was perfect. There are all the usual excursions available. Snorkeling / Banana boat / parasailing / bubble mask scuba / catamaran etc. We were only asked once about joining the preferred club but we were lingering in the lobby waiting for something so it was an opportune time. At some other resorts we were asked constantly about becoming preferred. I know that is their job but I have no intention of getting a time share or paying more to be preferred so I like that we weren’t constantly followed at Esmeralda! Food The food was good. All of the fish and seafood looked fresh. I usually have a complaint about the buffet food being too wilted (cheese being too soft etc.) I have to say it was better here than what I have seen, they have chillers and ice. Daily omelette station at breakfast and grilling station all other meals. Not as big of a buffet as I have seen but there are 2 open during meal time, main and the beach. Lots of sweet papaya. If you think you don’t like papaya, I recommend you try it in the Carribean. It is like candy! There were lots of options for everyone. They did have some gluten free bread and pastries at the buffet but inquire further if that is something you need. We liked the option of the “food truck” restaurant, a very short walk next door where you can grab something quick and not have to change. They also have a soft serve self serve ice cream machine. We tried 2 of the restaurants at our resort, Italian and the Mongolian. You can access most other restaurants at the other BP hotels except at Fantasia and MEAT. The Italian was decent we liked it. I recommend the Mongolian restaurant as you can choose what you want and they will stir fry it for you (good for picky eaters). We didn’t try more because we just didn’t want to have a schedule to follow. Wanted to eat when we felt like it. Room. We were in a modernly renovated room in building 91. I think there might still be some that aren’t renovated though, not sure. The room was nicely decorated. The pictures on the travel sites are accurate. It didn’t have a musty humid smell but the AC was on so it keeps it comfortable. The fridge was stocked daily with water, red rock (orange crush) Pepsi/ el presidente beer. Beach/pool We loved that the beach was right next to the pool we occupied most of the time (Matum). The beach was great. Always a yellow flag but there were calmer times than others. We loved bouncing in the waves so it was great for us. Lots of sand and a decent shallow stretch for younger kids to play. We didn’t have any rocks at all and there was barely any seaweed. Very nice beach! The pool had a smaller round area that is shallow for little kids but the big pool also has a gradual walk in where it isn’t deep if you want to be in there. It was great! There is a little poolside cart where you could buy some chips ($6usd) float tubes (starting at 10usd which we thought was reasonable compared to $30usd+ at some other resorts) and sunscreen. The service at the swim up bar was great, they worked really hard to serve everyone quickly. They gave out coconuts for free at least twice that we saw, whereas the other BP resort we had access to it was $5usd for a coconut. Shopping There is a shopping village that all resorts have access to walking or by trolly. Small vendors selling Knick knacks, clothes etc. The resort store wasn’t very big. It is next to the open air lobby. Some things were quite expensive. You can go to the stores at other resorts though that were bigger and had more variety. Entertainment Some of best shows we have seen in the Carribean (Jamaica/mex/PC) included at our resort. Wednesday was a big show around the pool, Friday was a foam party in the afternoon and a fire show/beach party in the evening plus daily entertainment around the pool. In the village they also put on a show, I think on Thursdays, where they have all kinds of free snacks, a few painting activities for kids and a big concert type show. Don’t forget to tip, they were very appreciative! We brought US dollars but they accept DOP as well. Cons The pools close at 6. We would have liked a little more time.
-
Mar 07, 2025
Loved it and will come back
Just got back from a 10 day stay at the Luxury Esmeralda. Loved it. Our room was perfect (building 95) right on the 1st floor overlooking the pool. The a la cartes were amazing with exception of the Makaido and the Brazilian. The sports bar was great for an afternoon bite or nighttime drink. Miguel at the sports bar was great. The only downside was the filming of a movie at the pool. They took up loungers leaving guests wandering around looking for seating. Also did not appreciate one of the actors stripping down to nothing at the pool bar to change.