Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo Hotel Las Terrenas

I stayed at this hotel for one night during a 4 day trip to the Dominican Republic. I travel a lot and have stayed at many hotels and this being a 5-star hotel had high expectations. According to US standards, this was below average.

Here are some observations:
- Clean and fixtures like a Days Inn
- Most staff had difficulty speaking english
- Only one towel in bathroom, no soap or lotion
- No ironing board

All inclusive was a waste of money since the food is the worst I have tasted anywhere (definitely don't expect cruise level dining) and they said everything in the minibar is included only for me to find two bottles of coke.

The billing system is pretty archaic .. they can't charge things to the room, everything has to be paid at the front desk at the time of purchase. So I had to make 4 trips to the front desk to rent a safe deposit box since I didn't have my wallet on me. The safe deposit box was a nightmare to operate too.