This was truly a wonderful vacation.
Your Arrival:
When we got off the plane in Punta Cana the locals were singing and dancing, what a wonderful greeting. The airport was beautiful it is open, no walls. It was a great experience, one that I went through in a bit of a daze. Everything went smoothly. We were taken to our waiting bus and started our 50 minute ride to the Hotel. It really isn’t as bad as some people have said, the bus is air conditioned and it was very interesting experience and went by quickly. When we arrived at our hotel, we were given a refreshing drink and after an easy check in with Francis, our luggage was taken to our room. Let the exploration begin.
Rooms:
We had a swim-out room, we were only about 5 steps from our patio to the pool. I enjoyed being able to sit in my little hammock chair on the patio and watch people play volleyball and swimming around when I needed to rest. The room was clean, it did not smell musty as some have suggested. It was not the biggest room we have had, but it was wonderful, and frankly we didn’t spend all that much time in it. We had a king size bed, a safe and a mini fridge that was well stocked and everything we needed. Our the wonderful woman who cleaned our room was terrific and left beautiful towel art on our bed every day and kept the room extremely clean. We were in building #1 which is furthest from the Lobby, but we didn’t mind the walk. It was a hop skip and a jump to the pool and a 2 minute walk to the beach. Couldn’t ask for more.
Restaurants and Bars:
The restaurants were fabulous. The first night we went to Oceana and our waiter Luis was terrific. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. Get a specialty coffee from Wildy and wait for the show, he was so entertaining, you can also get his special coffee in the Lobby bar between 4:00 and 5:00. I had heard that the portions at Oceana were a little small, I prefer to think of them as reasonable. And believe me the other restaurants make up for it. The Seaside Grill was one of our favourites, the steaks were excellent. We also tried the El Patio which was terrific and the World Café. We didn’t get to the others because we enjoyed Oceana and Seaside Grill so much we had to go twice. You could eat at the World Café everyday and still eat something different.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Our room was a swim-out so the pool was a big part of our trip, it is 3 feet deep everywhere and weaves through the property starting at the Santo Domingo Plaza behind the lobby and ends at the swim up pool bar near the beach. We thought the pool would be too shallow but it wasn’t. We loved it. The grounds were absolutely fabulous, well taken care of and beautiful, I spent alot of time taking photos of flowers, peacocks, flamingos and my favourite, the parrots.
The beach was beautiful, there are beds and beach chairs, some are underneath little sun huts. It did amaze me how many were left empty for most of the day, people would go out early in the morning to throw towels and books on them to save their seat even if they didn’t get there till after noon, which we refused to do, we took our chances and if we didn’t find a seat we walked on the beach.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Our trip was mostly about just relaxing and getting some rest so we opted not to do any off resort excursions. Maybe next time (and there will be a next time). The activities around the resort were great, the entertainment team work very hard to get people involved. We would get up early in the morning and walk around the resort, not on the main walkway, but behind all the buildings, we walked around 3 times every morning before breakfast. After breakfast there was the stretching class on the beach or Spanish Lessons, then we would swim from one end of the resort to the other, there is only one spot where there is a break and we had to get out and walk around and hop in again right away, it was wonderful. My husband played volleyball instead on one day, he enjoyed it. After that it was aqua fitness in the pool near the swim-up bar. I could go on and on, the activities were endless. The Shows at night were fun too, they work hard to dance and perform for our entertainment, my favourites were the Magic Show and Circus Show. I also enjoyed the Core Zone where we got to hit some baseballs in the batting cage. I didn’t try the mechanical bull or the climbing wall, but we did play some pool.
Other Comments:
I would not hesitate to recommend this Resort to anyone who wants to go to DR. The staff who work at this resort were very friendly and attentive, they work very long hard days, but were always happy and cheerful. We always tipped in the restaurants and left money every day for the woman (Lidia) who cleaned our room, I would also leave her a little treat bag with candies and little gifts. They didn’t seem to really expect tips, but we were rewarded with a great smile when we did. I had no complaints about this resort, we had a fabulous time and would like to go back next year to the same resort. Many thanks to the Dreams Punta Cana Resort and their staff for making our first all-inclusive experience a positive one. I only hope that when we go back we can get the same room we had this time around.