Delta Vacations Dominican Republic FAM - May 11-14 2015

Field Notes by Carol Flanigan

Delta Vacations Dominican Republic FAM - May 11-14 2015

Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe –

This was our host hotel and was a 4.5 star property. The grounds, pools and beach are beautiful. Everything was very clean. Rooms are large junior suites with two couches, mini-bar, and large balcony with Jacuzzi tub. Nice feature is a scroll down screen that provides privacy on the balcony. Bathroom well-appointed with rain shower head as well as second shower head that was more directional. Two sinks. Good closet area. Safe large enough for lap top.

Barcelo is a good family resort and they have an excellent waterpark with several water slides. Separate kids pool area close to the beach.

Nice casino on property.

Drawbacks – Service and food quality was inconsistent. Nothing terrible, just not great. Several agents had problems with internet service, although it is included in the rooms.

The resort requires much walking. Lobby area includes most of the restaurants and it can be a good 15-20 minute walk to rooms. There is a concierge desk for each block of rooms.

I would recommend the upgraded Club Premium service. Many benefits including no service charge at the French restaurant that normally carries a $50.00 per person surcharge. However, this restaurant was one that was fine, but certainly was not worth any surcharge. Food was good, not exceptional.

There are 2 bedroom family suites that will accommodate 5. They are back by the waterpark area.

This resort is built well to utilize the outstanding beach. None of the rooms are more than a 10-15 minute walk to the beach and there are direct pathways.

Iberostar Grand Bavaro –

This is a 5 star adults only resort within the Iberostar complex. My personal favorite of the resorts we toured. Rooms are large and well appointed. Jacuzzi between the room and balcony in a window area. Butler service and free Wi-Fi. Drink service on the beach and pool concierge service. Upgraded pool chairs and complimentary cabanas.

Beautiful pool that continues all around the property. They have a disco bar in a pirate boat on property that has DJ.

Golf is included - 18 holes including cart and caddy. 1 round per person for 4 night stay, 2 rounds per person for 7 night stay.

Ocean Blue and Sand –

What a pleasant surprise. This is about a 3.5 star resort, but I would sell it with confidence to people looking for a very nice resort at a budget price. Very large rooms, recently renovated. Blue soft goods in good condition. Jacuzzi in every room.

Excellent pool area with good chairs. Two pools, one quiet and one with entertainment. Beautiful beach. Rock climbing wall and 6 lane bowling alley.

Resort has the feeling of a village with restaurants in buildings that seem like a community. Completely accessible. Eight restaurants, no reservations, no restrictions.

I would strongly recommend the upgrade to the Privilege level at this hotel. Room service is 24 hours with Privilege, 11am-11pm with standard level. Privilege rooms are almost all at least partial ocean view and include premium drinks, bali beds and beach service on private section of beach. Buildings 6 and 10 are in the Privilege service and are closest to the beach.

Mini-bar stocked with soft drinks, water and beer. All rooms have complimentary Wi-Fi and it is available throughout the resort.

Excellent family resort choice.

Secrets Royal Beach and Now Larimar –

These resorts are next to each other, only separated by a gate. Secrets is nice, but not as nice as some of the other Secrets properties. Rooms have bright Caribbean color soft goods. Nice pool are meanders throughout entire property.

Spa is between both resorts and they share one spa. The two resorts also share the disco, casino and fitness center.

Now Larimar was nice, but nothing stands out as special. Rooms and pool area give it a 4 star quality.

I am sure that families are happy here.

Paradisus Palma Real –

This is a wonderful resort if you are looking for quiet elegance. The main part of the resort is very much like the others we had seen.  I would rate it a high 4.5 star. I would again recommend the upgrade to the premium service as it gives you access to several lounges plus other amenities. Royal Service lounge is in the adults only section and Family Concierge lounge in the family section.

A Luxury junior suite and one bedroom master suite can be connected to make a 2 bedroom suite.

The Reserve is a family section that caters to upscale families. Quiet, but still things for kids to do.

Themed pool. However, the Reserve is not on the beach. There is a shuttle that takes you from the Reserve to the beach area at Paradisus. Probably not more than 15 minutes.

Hard Rock Punta Cana –

This resort is huge. You enter the main lobby area with celebrity paraphernalia. This is where most of the restaurants are and the 40,000 (I think) sq ft casino. The casino is a major focus.

As with all Hard Rock rooms, they have the double Jacuzzi in the room at the foot of the bed.

There seemed to be a lot of water that was for show, not for use. We were able to take the train from the lobby to the beach, about a 10 minute drive. I think this would take close to a half hour if you were walking. As all resorts in Punta Cana, the beach is beautiful. The Hard Rock has a water park with slides at the beach area. We ate in Zen, the Japanese restaurant and both the food and the show were what you would expect – good, but not exceptional.

Bavaro Runners Tour –

I took the all-day Bavaro Runner tour and loved every minute of it. We started at 7:45am and went to a horse stable where everyone was assisted on to a horse and we had about a 20 minute docile ride.

Then we went to a sugar cane area and cigar factory where we sampled sugar cane liquid and, of course, rum. It was 10:00am by then. Watched cigars being made and had time to shop in the cigar store.

Then we were off to tour a “typical house”.  The house had a front room, two bedrooms, and inside kitchen. Outside, there was additional kitchen area where the family roasted coffee and cocoa, grew pineapple, coconuts and cinnamon. Maria, the hostess, was lovely. She and her husband raised 5 children in the house and have 6 acres of land.

Then, we stopped for rice and beans, spaghetti, salad and fruit lunch.

Off to the Tiano (sp?) Indian cave. Artifacts have been uncovered in this dry cave. There is a little show about the history of the Indians and then back to the hotel. Home by 4:00. This tour is in a 12 passenger truck that can handle the dirt roads. Of course, the poor roads are part of the adventure.

Our guide, Mimi, was wonderful. Excellent English, and knows how to promote himself, but in a fun way.

My general feeling of Punta Cana is that the beaches are the best anywhere in the Caribbean. The resorts have been built to excellent standards. The universal language is Spanish and even the people in the resorts have limited knowledge of English. The food, internet access and service reminded me of Mexico 20 years ago. They really want to please the American tourist, but aren’t quite there yet.

However, the prices to Punta Cana are usually very good and I think it is an excellent value for the client who is perhaps a first or second time traveler to the Caribbean.