Arrival: February 21 – 28:
We left Ottawa via WestJet Airlines at 6 am and arrived in Punta Cana on time at 11 a.m. with the time change. WestJet is an excellent airline, have never had any problems with them. When we arrived at the Elegance, there was a kiosk in the lobby with a sign for the Elegance Club. This is where our butler was waiting for us. There were 2 other couples as well. We all walked down to the Elegance Club section and we entered into the Club section where we were checked in. This is also where all club members can go and check their e-mail, enjoy some snacks and get great coffee, bottles of water, pop etc. Great concept if you ask us. Our room wasn’t ready, so our butler, Hoolio, showed us to the lunch buffet where we had some lunch. After lunch he came to pick us up and off we went to our room.
Rooms:
What a beautiful surprise when we walked into our Ocean Front Suite. On the third floor, room 3335. As you walked in, there was a bathroom on the left, with the closet’s on the right. When you walk into the living room, you will find a leather couch with ottoman, a table with two chairs, a large cabinet which holds your fridge, coffee maker,espresso maker, ice bucket, bottle of champagne with glasses. As well, there was a bottle of Johnny Walker Black, Absolute Vodka, A bottle of Rum as well as a bottle of Bailey’. There was also a huge patio door leading to a massive balcony over looking one of the Elegance club pools. On the balcony you had two chairs with a bistro type table, a couch with a coffee table as well as a huge round jacuzzi tub. If you looked to the right, you were looking at the beach and the Ocean. Just breathtaking. To the left was the resort and grounds. In the second room, off the living room was the king size bed, a desk with your plasma tv above on the wall, a walk in closet, jacuzzi tub, two sinks, your shower as well as a second bathroom. The shower was huge, we never had any problem with the draining of the water, it’s possible they’ve fixed all the rooms, or are working on it. The maids were excellent, we never saw them. They would attend while we were out of the room. We brought a bunch of gifts for the maid, when we would return they would be gone, the room was cleaned, we had towels and facecloths. Never any issues. We also received on a daily basis, the newspaper, which was nice to read in the afternoon on the patio with a nice cold Presidente from your fridge!!! We had pop, beer water and chocolate bars.
Restaurants and Bars:
I believe we did them all. The seafood was good, the service here is a bit unorganized, but we just watched the show and waited. Eventually we did receive our dinners and the food was excellent. The steakhouse is gorgeous. The food is excellent and the staff, well, I personally believe they are overworked. I believe in great service, but I also think that having your staff running through the restaurant is a bit much. We watched these guys for almost and hour and a half. They have one guy doing all the running to the tables with the main courses. It’s very well organized, don’t get me wrong, I just think they should split it up so they’re not running. We called him over to the table to talk to him and my husband gave him a 10.00 tip. He was so gracious, but he didn’t have time to even talk, he needed to get the next round of plates to the next table. The buffet was great, they have signs to indicate what the dish is, the food was hot, there was plenty to choose from. This goes for the breakfast,lunch and dinner. The Gourmet was great, nice ambiance, a piano player in the middle of the restaurant. This is fine dining. Men are required to wear long pants here. And the women are wearing anything from jeans to gowns! Service was excellent. We also dinned at the Italian restaurant. The lobster Gnocchi was excellent. My husband had the "over" cooked lasagna. There was a typo on the menu…should have read "oven". We had a good laugh at that one. The lasagna was fine. Small portions. The Japanese was excellent as well, though they do put alot of salt in the food. We didn’t try the Sushi bar, but the people that we talked to said it was excellent. There were alot of people in there when we would walk by. Just before we left, they did open a "wine tasting" room just off the japanese restaurant. We spoke with someone who attended and said it was just awesome. I believe you have 4 different wines, they bring you all the food that accompanies these tastings as well.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Well, I can’t say enough about this resort. We have been to the Majestic Colonial twice and right after it opened, so this was kind of the same idea. The grounds are amazing. They have their maintenance staff constantly working on the grounds. The greenery is just amazing. You have the main pool for the Elegance guests, this pool runs through the whole resort. You also have four pools that run along the Elegance Club buildings. These pools have tonnes of beach chairs as well as the "bali beds". The elegance club pools were very quiet, it was the perfect atmosphere for us. The beach is the best part of this holiday. The water and sand here is just amazing. The beach is a bit more narrow than most, but there’s enough room here to sit comfortably. They had alot of palapas as well. There was an Elegance Club section on the beach to the left, this section is strictly for club members. There’s no signage so you have everybody coming over. The staff ask anyone without the elegance club wristband on to move over the other side. What a show….some people moved, most people would just ignore them. Very rude in my opinion. Might make a bit of a difference if they had some signs up. Maybe not, but it wouldn’t hurt and would save the staff from being put into rude situations.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
My husband and I were there to relax. We didn’t attend any shows whatsoever. On tuesday evenings, the Elegance Club puts on a cocktail party on the rooftop bar. They had all the staff, the manager Calixte, as well as the butlers, they had a singing trio who where just wonderful. They served champagne and hors d’ovres. It was a great way to meet everyone and mingle with the other guests.
Other Comments:
The only thing that turned me off was that we hardly saw any guests tipping these fine workers. They would constantly go out of their way to ensure that your holiday was memorable. A buck goes a long way people. We never had any problem with communicating, if anything we found that the majority of the people who worked for this resort spoke perfect english. This was possibly the best holiday and resort that we’ve ever stayed at. We travel at least twice a year and have been for the last 17 years. We love this island. This resort was a five star in our eyes and we can’t wait to get back there to enjoy another excellent holiday.