Overall the resort/hotel is beautiful. Staff are all friendly. Food is excellent.

This hotel should be rated about 3 stars not 5. Bug infested and room cleaning is not graet from day to day. people want big tips but don't want to do anything to get them. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

This hotel was great! The food, the people, the room; everything was perfect. The beach is not typical of the powder white sand you find down south though. I LOVED it because I am an avid snorkeller and this resort had the best snorkelling I've ever done...right off the beach!! Better than any snorkelling excursion I've ever been on too! Water shoes are a must because there are a couple of spots that have sea urchins and you wouldn't want to step on one! The best place to snorkel at the main beach is at the far end next to the fence for the nude beach. There was never anyone at the nude beach so we didn't feel weird crossing the fence in the water. We saw sting rays, lion fish and tons of other kinds of fish! bring bananas from the buffet to feed them, it's a great experience! The little bay where the boat for scuba diving is parked is best for feeding the fish. We saw a puffer fish in this area too and there also one in the little bay to the right of the wedding gazebo too!! My husband and I loved this resort! It was our first time to Jamaica and won't be our last. Maybe even go back to this hotel! We will definitely recommend it to family and friends!

this vacation met all of my exceptions....great place to runaway to :)

good 10 day rest at the GBP Runaway bay. Food was tops but busy at breakfast buffets. Beach not so great but well protected so good for kids. Room was nice and well kept, clean and everything worked properly. The object of their game is to talk you out of specialty restaurants by offering lousy dinner times...9-9:30 persisit and they'll break. Some folks Walked in one night without a reservation as there was plenty of room. One hostess at the Italian would rather have been anywhere else the night we visitied, a total misery, however the food was great, why could it not have been memorable for that? The only front desk staff of any worth were Opal and Philip.others were useless or incredibly unaware of what customer service means. All grounds staff, pool and bar staff were wonderful and work hard to ensure you are enjoying your stay. We'd return, but there are nicer places we've stayed in the past.

La nourriture est excellente, l'hôtel bien soigné et spacieux. Il n'y a pas énormément d'activité sur le site de l'hôtel (ex: pas de table de billard, ou de ping-pong). Les spectacles de fin des soirée sont trop longs, mais en général il y a une belle ambiance. Piscine énorme et plage bien grande. Plutôt pour des couples/adultes en recherche de tranquilité.

Had a lovely time. Amazingly nice staff, food good (although specialty restaurants beat buffet). Fabulous pool, nice and shallow for kids. Lovely beach with plenty of shade and loungers. They don't advertise their evening entertainment sufficiently. Overall an excellent vacation.

I traveled with a friend of mine, two single girls, and we had an amazing time. We have been all over the islands in the south, and this is my favourite resort so far. Great food, beautiful friendly people, fantastic pool and lots of space on the beach. Not too close to anything if you were interested in wandering into town on foot, but transportation to Ocho Rios (30 mins) is availble for a fee.

Nous avons adoré l'hotel et le site. Grand terrain, grande plage. Les chambres sont grandes et bien décorées. Nourriture excellente. Personnel gentil.

Superbe hotel ! La propreté est impécable, le personnel est souriant et sont toujours la pour vous aider. Pour la plage il y as quelques algues il faux savoir ou aller mais bon si vous voulez de belle plage il faux aller a Negril. Je n'ais jamais aussi bien manger dans le sud j'avais lue de mauvais commentaire il faux vraiment être difficile pour pas aimer et du choix il y en as je suis du genre sensible au Tourista et je n'ais pas été du tout malade. Bref je recommande cet hotel sans hésiter.

The room, the buildings, the restaurants, and the grounds are beautiful. We enjoyed the pools, and the calm, warm bay to the left of the hotel. The buffet lacked a variety of citrus fruit and vegetables, but there was a good variety of meats and bread, pasta and cheeses. The jerk pork and chicken at the grill by the beach was the best. There were musicians for most lunches, early evening and before the main show. Servers were friendly and helpful. Maintenance call was answered quickly, and our safe was repaired. Security guards were in the halls and at the beach, though the grounds were quiet. Plenty of chairs on the beach and at the pool areas.

Was at this resort when it first opened, getting a little run down. While being under staffed, staff are generally very pleasant,Food not bad Beach OK.
My opinion, a very solid 4 star resort

We travelled with Transat so we had private check-in; We were told our rooms were not quite ready, but minutes later, we were given our room and safe keys! When we got to our room, we were delighted with a kingsized bed with sheer draperies, a crib and the view was amazing-overlooking the pool and right onto the ocean.
Housekeeping staff were friendly and prompt with general service and requests. The Pool staff were very friendly, as well as the Entertainment team. A big shout-out to Gina; the in-house scouba rep, who came to visit our 5m old baby girl several times a day :)
All of our à la carte reservations were made in advance by Transat, the food was decent, the service was great -with one exception- the Italian restaurant- the food was horrible and the service was extraordinarily terrible. We were ignored for the first 10 minutes - there was only one other table seated just after us, who were seemingly well cared for. Not sure what was up with that.
Overall, we travel the Carribean annally and have stayed at GBP's and Riu's, so everything was exactly what I expected, with the very pleasant surprise of the great view. I find the Jamaican people very friendly and accomodating. I would highly recommend this resort and this destination.

Great place to be had a good exprience staying there.

Nous avons bien aimé l'hôtel pour la propreté et les resto à la carte, moins fort le buffet surtout les déjeuners mais on peut se débrouiller. Le personnel est sympathique. Beaucoup moins aimé c'est la plage, très petite et aucune vague et l'eau n'est pas aussi turquoise qu'à Cuba exemple. Si vous aimez vous baigner alors cet endroit n'est pas pour vous mais si vous préférez un hôtel et la piscine alors très belle place.

A great place to go. I would recommend this resort to anyone.

We are going back in December.
Beauty place, excellent food.

Very welcoming, beautiful all around from rooms to landscaping, had lots of fun on the beach and tanning,food was average but always gone early.

Overall the Resort is very good, the rooms were always clean, as were the grounds. The front desk staff was very helpful and moved us to an ocean veiw when requested. The Mikado Restaurant was fantastic, the buffet at times could use some improvement. There seemed to be a shortage of plates at the snack bar, but when the resort is near capacity it is to be expected. The jerk chicken was excellent. We will return to that resort again.

Over all was a Great resort! Diamond club upgrade Hamas not as advertised!, not worth upgrade.

L'hôtel est vraiment très bien. Très belle chambre avec vue sur la piscine et sur la mer, grand balcon. Tous les lieux sont d'une propreté remarquable. Le site est bien fait et tout se trouve a proximité de marche, pas besoin de navette.
La plage laisse a désirer. En plus d'être petite, il manque de sable dans l'eau et il y a beaucoup de touffes d'algues. Les employés ramassent cependant les algues qui se retrouvent au bord de l'eau.
La nourriture est quand même bien. De la langouste certains soirs au buffet. Toutefois, la présentation et les portions dans les restaurants a la carte ainsi que le service auraient pu être beaucoup mieux. Les choix aux buffets sont limites et on se lasse assez rapidement et ce que ce soit pour déjeuner, diner ou souper.
L'attitude de certains employés manquaient de sérieux et nuisaient a la qualité du service. Plusieurs employés a la plage faisaient exprès pour faire du vacarme en fin de journée pour déranger volontairement la quiétude des voyageurs. Un autre employé au buffet de la plage jappait littéralement (vraiment comme un chien) et ce sans raison. Quand on demandait des renseignements, plusieurs fois nous nous sommes faits répondre n'importe quoi par les employés de l'hôtel qui ne semblaient jamais au courant de rien !
C'était notre 4e fois dans un Gran Bahia Principe (1 fois a Punta Cana et 2 fois a Riviera Maya) et c'est définitivement celui que nous avons le moins apprécié.
Dernière note, ne perdez pas votre temps avec le Club Privilèges. Plusieurs Québécois, nous compris, ont perdu un avant-midi avec des vendeurs d'un genre de "Time sharing" aux prix d'aubaines de 5000$ a 40 000$ !

This resort is beautiful,and laid out very nicely. The staff are extremely friendly and the service is top notch. The food is very good, make sure you stop by the Jerk centre for lunch, it is awesome. The buffet has good food and the a la cartes are great as well. The resort is a one hour bus ride from the Airport. The guestrooms are clean and big, mine had a separate shower and large jacuzzi tub. Get the ocean view if you can. The beds were very comfortable. There weren't many kids at this time of year (March 25-31)

gorgeous hotel beautiful rooms food was good and always something different.

This was our first trip in Jamaica and we loved everything about it ... rooms, food, service and the jamaicans. I will definately go back.

Very wonderful stay at the Gran Bahia Principe - really a beautiful resort with good food (especially the a la carte restaurants).
We had a room on the backside of the hotel, facing the highway - it was less than desirable - thankfully, the beach made up for it, but it was a far walk from our room to the beach area. Overall, we had an enjoyable vacation and I would recommend the resort to others - just don't have a room in section J.

Not enough Jamaican food or culture. food was bland, Jamaica is all about spice.

A great trip. The Gran Bahia is a wonderful hotel - large enough to have something on the go at all times but small enough that you don't have to exhaust yourself getting there. The people were friendly. The food was good but variety was limited.

The resort was quite beautiful and that's about it. The lobby was somewhat grand but the furnishings were worn. The rooms are nice, but nothing special; same as many 4* resorts just a bit bigger because it's a suite.
Everyday we had to call for something, i.e. towels, soap, (coffee with upgrade),by the way, not worth it.
The beach is nice but nothing to rave about. It's gravelly in places with stones and twigs poking through in spots, especially by the far bar (they could use another one mid beach).
The food, not very good. Greasy, cold, usually undercooked, display doesn't even look appetizing. Simple things like running out of pancakes, syrup, bacon and having to repeatedly ask and wait and wait for replacement was quite frustrating. Snackbar is open from 11-6, but by 1/1:30 nacho bar out of guacamole for the day-4 days in a row-is that really possible?!! The salad bar was very basic, there was a lack of utensils for serving and also no signs for a lot of the food at the buffet. Service was very poor. Barely a smile amongst the staff.
I could go on and on but that would just be me venting!
You may not believe that I'm usually not a complainer, nor is my adult daughter. I think it's more shock and disbelief at how unattentive and/or rude most of the staff was. A simple 'good morning', 'excuse me' or 'would you like coffee? would at least made it seem like they were trying! The maintenance staff were the friendliest. When we checked out, not even a goodbye, hope you enjoyed your stay or how was everything? which I vowed to tell them, but they never asked.
Reviews are reviews, and everyone has their own opinion. We're sure many people loved it but we WILL NOT be giving them a second chance. We love Jamaica. It's our third time and we will be going back, just to a different resort. If you choose to go, hope your experience is better than ours.

We had a fantastic time at the Bahia Runaway Bay. The hotel was beautiful, our room gorgeous and the people there friendly. We enjoyed activities offered both on and off the resort. The beach was a little disappointing in that it was small, smooth pebbles more than sand, but overall, a great get-a-way.

Would highly recommend this resort. We had no problems what so ever our whole stay.
Staff was friendly and helpful and the resort was clean and food good.No complaints on anything.