Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda - All Inclusive - Newly Renovated

A lovely resort. Clean, good food, nice people, great experience. The bed was super comfortable (I have back issues so this was a great perk), the room was lovely, the staff were also kind and knowledgable and helpful, the grounds were beautiful, the pools were wonderful, the splash park was a big hit with my 6 year old. The beach was beautiful, the water warm. We swam every day. Yes, it's weedy, but that's the ocean. It wasn't nearly as weedy as Mexico. It was a beautiful vacation. I really loved that the greeters at the buffets had hand sanitizer and had everyone sanitize their hands before entering. This made me feel more secure in our health and welfare by reducing chance of illness. The only very minor complaints are (and I only say this to make the hotel aware and none of these aside from the trek from airport to hotel, impacted our vacation): - The "loud" pool was kind of dirty at times (something very difficult to control with so many people in it and with people drinking in it all day). It was also deafeningly loud, not an issue for most, but just walking past on the way to the beach or lunch buffet, I noticed many people plugging their ears as the passed by. - The buffets were great, however the main one often didn't have plates, bowls, or spoons available if you arrived the second half of when it was open. I believe this is a supply/demand issue. Not a big deal. - at breakfast, I had to seek out someone to serve coffee (I'd be happy to get it myself, but that wasn't an option). Only one day, did I have a smiling server who offered me coffee without my needing to flag someone. Not a big deal, but I like to have coffee with my breakfast, so I suggest that coffee be self serve. - Nothing to do with the resort, but if you fly through expedia (Flair), keep in mind you need to arrange for your transport to the hotel from the airport (and back again). This proved to be a huge pain. We had arranged transport via Expedia prior to our trip, however when we arrived, there was no car waiting for me and my three children and no one was answering the phone number we received on the itinerary. It took an hour to get another driver to take us there (and an additional $35 USD) - something I didn't anticipate. The driver was a maniac and the whole drive there, I was clutching my seat and scared for our lives. My husband (not on the trip with us) eventually managed to reach Expedia about this, but has yet to hear back from them, despite them assuring him they would respond within a couple of days. This was almost 2 weeks ago). So, this delayed our arrival by a couple of hours - not a nice way to arrive with three very tired, super hungry kids (there aren't many options for food to purchase on the plane - my son wouldn't eat the pizza so he was especially cranky). By the time we finally arrived, it was getting dark and we still had to catch a trolly from where we were dropped off (Fantasia) to our resort (Esmeralda). The concierge at the desk who was the liaison to Esmeralda was less than helpful and just kept telling me "5 minutes" without looking up from his phone. It was more like 30 minutes. So not a great start. We thought we would arrive between 5 - 5:30 and didn't arrive until 7:30. Our plane was also over an hour late leaving Pearson, so I felt like we completely lost half of a day. Returning to the airport was a breeze as the bellmen at the hotel arranged it for us the day before and all went smoothly (my fault for travelling with Flair, I guess - cheaper isn't always cheaper or easier). I gave the hotel 5 stars because it deserves 5 stars. The few minor complaints were just that. Minor and petty, but I feel like (aside from the coffee being a peeve - mainly because I was there with 3 kids and needed my morning coffee) nothing was really a problem at all. I hope to return again one day :)