Gran Bahia Cayo Levantado Nov 6-13/10

I had started a review of this resort situated on a small island off the shores of Samana, DR but I have really nothing to add to the many complimentary reviews that I had poured over on Trip Advisor for the past 2 months. So what I write will once more include my general impressions of this trip and resort.

We travelled with Westjetvacations for the first time. Like Aircanadavacations I find Westjetvacation’s prices to be generally high but they do offer some good deals from Eastern Canada especially in the Fall. There were some excellent deals for Samana resorts for November. We became familiar with their Hurricane policy when they issued a hurricane advisory for this area as Tomas threatened to impact the area. Just as we breathed a sigh of relief that travel would be a go Tomas threatened from our end as the accumulated moisture produced heavy rains and high winds that delayed and cancelled flights the afternoon and evening before we departed Halifax on Saturday morning. I thought our flight to Toronto would be bumpy due to the stormy weather but it was fine and the flight attendants were in their usual form! They really do make flying more enjoyable! The storms coming up the coast did make the flight from Toronto longer than usual and there was some turbulence but it was all worth it when we reached our destination.

El Catey Airport is small and new. We have made 2 arrivals and 2 departures through this airport and on all occasions were the only flight there so you can move right along. This year on arrival we were able to find a nice cold Presidente to take on the bus ride to the resort. The bus was comfortable and air conditioned and after a good hour we were dropped off at the resort mainland Lobby. Here we filled out some forms and received our room key, map, and bracelet. There was a small wait for the boat to arrive back and then we and our luggage were loaded for the short 10 minute trip to the island.

This resort is on a small island and essentially the island is the resort except for the public beach known as Bacardi beach where they photographed the Bacardi commercials. The grounds of the resort are beautiful+++ with several areas that are more like parks with tall trees, shrubs and flowers. There is a good amount of walking and the terrain is definitely not flat. There are lots of trolleys to pick you up if you don’t feel like the exercise and once there we discovered short cuts to where we wanted to go. There are less than 200 rooms at the resort so there are no crowds of people.

For this trip I didn’t bother with room requests. I had booked a Junior suite which would have put us in the main hotel and we were good with that. It was a pleasant surprise when we discovered that we had been upgraded to a Superior Junior suite in Villa 12. The room was huge with a king sized four poster bed a couch and chair, coffee table, armoire, desk/dresser and two bedside tables. I counted 9 very ample drawers. We were on the ground floor of the 2 story villa and this gave us a huge terrace as well. On the terrace there was a comfortable wicker couch, arm chair and coffee table and on the other side a table and two wicker chairs. This was like having an additional room and we loved relaxing out there. We had a good view of the bay and got to watch 4 cruise ships come and go on different days. We had no problems with bugs but had to keep the patio doors closed as there were lots of anoles or geckos around. The bathroom was huge with a separate tiled shower stall and separate enclosed area for the flush. The main washroom contained a large Jacuzzi tub and on the same wall a large window into the bedroom. That window seemed a bit odd at first but I guess the design was to allow you to enjoy the Jacuzzi and be able to look out through the room and see the unobstructed view of the bay. Our only complaint with the room would be the lighting especially in the entryway where the huge double closet containing the safe was located. Regardless of the time of day we had to use a flashlight to see to key in the numbers on the safe (free) or to see smaller items in the closet. A brighter light bulb would have remedied this!

The food was great and the buffet had a different theme each night and there was lots of variety of cold and hot dishes. There was a large selection of fresh fruits, including melons, passion fruit, kiwis, papaya, mango, bananas, oranges, etc. The various rolls and the cheeses were delicious. The 3 ala cartes were very good with the Italian being our favourite. Service in the buffet was excellent and the staff was very friendly and always smiling.

There is a lobby bar with very comfortable chairs and free wifi access on two lap top computers or for your own devices. We were pleased that there was no shortage of Baileys. Last year at the Ambar Baileys was placed on the list of drinks that you had to pay for. We had some good mojitoes and one not so great one. There are also bars a the pools and at the beach. Bar service was excellent at both the lobby bar and the beach bar and both had excellent wait service.

The resort is very clean and well maintained. There were workers scrubbing, raking, clipping and painting every day and our maid left our room immaculate and fully stocked with towels plus a towel sculpture each day. We never had to ask for a refill of anything. There were 2 beach towels in the room on arrival but the resort did not keep record of them and you could exchange beach towels throughout the day as needed. That was nice. The only problem we experience the first couple of days was a problem with our room keys. Starting with our first entrance into our room and 3 more times we had to return to the lobby for a new key. We had been careful about where we kept the key so that it wouldn’t deactivate. After those 4 trips back to the lobby we experienced no more problems.

Even though I had seen lots of pictures of the beaches it took some getting used to when we first visited the 2 smaller private beaches. They are really nice but not good for long walks like the ones in Punta Cana and Cuba. The first day we settled at the “prettier” beach with the wide sand beach, palapas and tall palm trees. We found though that for swimming there was a quick and deep drop off and the waves were rough. After being knocked over once and dragged out a ways we headed to the other beach. This beach is narrower but there are lots trees with dense foliage for shade. We didn’t need to huddle under a palapa! There were hammocks and the swimming was good. My husband went out snorkeling from the beach and didn’t see many fish. This was just a great place to read and relax and to take part in animation activities if you chose to. There was never any problem getting loungers in the shade and on the beach. Not having to get up at 6 AM and play the “game” was a real treat after last year at the Ambar.

There are three pool areas and the pools are clean, large and well maintained. The lower pool next to the beach is where activities go on but I never noticed that it was overly noisy. There was a large “quiet” pool with cabanas, palapas, and padded loungers and spa like music in the background. In front of our villa was a “pool” containing three Jacuzzis. This was nice for relaxing after a day at the beach. It was a treat having the choices of where to go according to your mood.

We did visit the public beach twice. The vendors set up here in the daytime. I had read in several reviews that these vendors were very aggressive but we did not find that. They were definitely trying to sell their wares but there was no hassle when you said no gracias. The beach itself is beautiful but marred by the lines of white plastic loungers. The cruise ships bring people to this beach and some of the excursions offer a stop here for a lunch, etc and of course on the weekends the local people come over to enjoy the beach. At 11PM each evening the bar at this beach becomes free for resort guests and there is a wooden platform for dancing. We went to this beach party one night but people were mostly just standing or sitting and talking or drinking.

This resort had many activities offered. There was a water sports center, biweekly shopping trips to Santa Barbara de Samana, full spa services, gym, and of course you could book any of a number of excursions. The Animation team was fantastic. They offered meringue and Spanish lessons, games at the beach and pool, stretching, etc. They would invite you to activities but were never pushy.

The only negative of the trip was the bus ride back to the airport. Even though I had done this trip to and from El Portillo and to this resort there was a lot of road construction going on and the trip was quite jerky with stopping and starting. I did get a bit “car sick”. Should I be fortunate to return to this area I will be prepared the next time!!

I would have to say that this is our favourite resort to date. The staff are wonderful and try to anticipate your every need. The resort itself is beautiful and it is set amidst a backdrop of mountains, forests, and water. This is definitely not a party resort but is a fun resort. It is small enough that you get to meet other guests but large enough that you are not always bumping into people. There was a good mix of age groups and there were quite a few younger couples. This resort is not adult only and there were some very young children there.

Bahia Cayo Levantado is a fantastic getaway and indeed could be renamed Paradise Island.