I arrived home today from our annual trip to the DR and once again fell in love with this country and its people. I travelled with my husband our 2 sons, a friend of the family and her 2 children (Childrens ages 10,9,7&6) We have been in the Punta Cana area 4 times now, and although this resort was a little older than some of the others that we have stayed in, it was well maintained and made the perfect backdrop to a wonderful time. We were in the Transat Prestige section of the resort and it was wonderful
Arrival:
We arrived at the resort at approx. 10pm and were greeted with cold drinks and our private check in. Within 15 minutes of arriving at the resort, all 7 of us were checked in and whisked away to our rooms by the bellboys on a golfcart, we were not left to wander the resort in hopes of locating our rooms. We were also told that the buffet restaurant was closed for the night, but were given directions on how to find the all night pizza place so that we could get something to eat.
Rooms:
Yes the rooms at this resort are a little dated, but they are kept in good working order. They are cleaned and their was no musty smell in the room. The rooms were quite large with a big balcony. (3rd floor rooms have a thatched roof) Mini fridge was stocked daily. One day there was no hot water. My husband mentioned this to the concierge and we did not have another problem for the rest of the week.
Restaurants and Bars:
The food at the resort was average. I have had better and worse at different resorts, everyone in our group always found something that they liked no matter what restaurant we were at. My personal favourite was the Mexican, where my husband loved the steakhouse. My personal thought was that the food kept 4 picky kids happy all week…therefore I was happy.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: The beach was beautiful….we were lucky enough to get a week of perfect sunny weather and we spent much of it at the beach. The waves were perfect for the kids to go bodysurfing (as long as an adult was there to watch them) It was kept very clean, Yes there was seaweed….but that is part of the deal when playing in the ocean.
The pools were great, the main activity pool was great when you wanted music and entertainment, the childrens pool was actually the quietest one of them all, and was perfect for relaxing, and the pool near the ocean was great for having a little entertainment without all the noise of the main activity pool. Overall it was a great setup
Other Comments: The kids club staff was amazing, though our kids only wanted to go to the kids club when there was an activity that they were interested in (Soccer, tennis, ping pong) The staff always made a point of letting our kids know what was going on when, and encouraged even our shyest little guy to join in, by the middle of the week they had him dancing on stage and taking part in the nightly kids show. Esperanza we love you.
Overall for the price that we paid for this vacation, our expectations were pretty low. We ended up blown away by the amazing staff and location.