__________The Dominican Republic__________
The Booking/cost:
So as always we booked our trip online. We always book with Ebookers/Expedia and we book our flights, accommodation and transfers together. Loads of people asked how much this trip was and I don't really like giving prices as they can fluctuate so much but I will give you a breakdown of what we paid this time round. So we flew with Aer Lingus to London then got a connecting flight with BA to Punta Cana, got our private transfers with Super Shuttle to our resort where we stayed for 10 nights in the upgraded Swim Up Suite and it is all inclusive so you don't need to pay for ANYTHING (we brought money for tips, its not compulsory but we like to give to those that deserve it), we then got our transfer back to the airport where we flew into Philadelphia then got a connecting flight to Dublin. All in our Vacation came to about €3,700.
The Journey:
We flew from Dublin Airport Terminal 2. We live about 20 minutes from the airport so we always drive up and park in the QuickPark carpark, its about 5 minutes away from the airport and they provide a shuttle to get you there after you park. When we arrived at the airport we had to check into terminal 2 then we had to walk the whole way to terminal 1 for our flight.... If that's not ridiculously Irish then I don't know what is but anywhoo we boarded our flight to Gatwick and we were in a row with an empty seat beside us which is always nice and if you follow me on Instagram you'll already know that my hubby was out cold before they finished boarding surprise surprise. We landed in Gatwick an hour later and it is one of those strange Airports that don't have a connecting flights terminal for connecting flights so you have to make your way to the main terminal and go back through security to get to your next flight but c'est la vie it is what it is. We got through security in a breeze and settled into Wagamama for some brekkie, if you haven't tried wagamama for food then you are missing out, its delicious, a little pricey but delish.
Obviously we had to get a Starbucks for the flight so we grabbed that just before we boarded. We flew into Punta Cana directly from London so the flight was only 8 hours, it was a pretty empty flight so people were free to move around comfortably and take a nap in the empty seats, we had 2 seats together so we stayed put. We flew with BA and I always enjoy flying with them. The flight was as quick as an 8 hour flight can be, we watched movies and got food, snacks and drinks that were nice. We landed in Punta Cana, got through passport control, got our bags and were greeted by our driver who took us to the resort. The resort that we stayed in was The Excellence El Carmen in Punta Cana, it's actually in an area called Uvero Alto and it's about a 45 minute drive from the Airport. We booked our transfers directly with Ebookers as mentioned above, all in all it's a really good service, you could probably end up paying less if you took a taxi or group bus but we like to organise private transfers with a reputable company so there's no waiting around or stopping at different resorts.
The Resort:
When you arrive at the resort you are checked in by security, it's quite a secure resort so they check everyone in and out any time you leave to make sure only people staying at the resort are allowed inside, you are then greeted by staff who take and tag your bags and you are given a cold towel that smells amazing and a glass of Champagne. You are escorted to reception where they check you in and give you your room key (like all hotels :D)and explain what block you will be staying in. The baggage staff or bellhops take your luggage on a cart and escort you to your room while explaining where everything is and how to get to different places within the resort, we got a man called Manny (aka. Super Manny) he helped us last year aswel and he's amazing.
As mentioned above we booked the Junior Swim Up Suite, I'll post some pictures of it here:
Now we do have a preference when it comes to the rooms. Last year we stayed in block 6 on the B side (ill post a pic of the resort map below so you know what I'm talking about) This year when we requested block 6 we were told that it was closed for refurbishments so we were put in block 4. The rooms are all exactly the same but depending on which side of the block you are on will depend on when you get the sun. For example: When you stay in the rooms on the B side of the block you get the sun in the morning until the lateish afternoon but if you stay in the A side of the block you get the sun in the late afternoon until about 5 or 6. We much preferred the B side as having the sun early was much nicer. Just an FYI aswel, if you are super tasty like me and you get bitten by little mozzie's make sure to bring 100% deet with you, if you are sitting out first thing in the morning or late at night they like to nibble on you.
Amenities:
As the resort is an All Inclusive resort you have everything you need without having to leave. In your room you have all the amenities that you could need, a fully stocked mini bar with snacks, beer, soft drinks and water that is restocked every day if you want, 3 full bottles of spirits, i believe that it was Vodka, Whiskey and Rum, the brand varies depending on whether or not you are an excellence club member but we were perfectly happy with the bottles that we got. You have soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shower caps, shaving kits, a comb, a toothbrush with toothpaste, towels, slippers and robes in your room with replacements and refills whenever you need them. All the rooms have air conditioning, a Tv, a hair dryer, Wi-Fi, a Nespresso coffee maker, coffee pods, tea, milk, sugar, herbal tea, glasses, an ice bucket and a bottle opener. The resort also has 24 hour room service if you don't feel like leaving your room or if you get hungry at 2 am :). Ill post some pictures below of the amenities. You also get daily housekeeping and turndown service, if you have the do not disturb sign on your door they will leave the turn down pack on your door handle, this includes your daily itinerary with the next days activities and little pillow chocolates, they have daily activities every day for guests like Spanish lessons, bike tours, games on the beach, yoga, fitness classes, drinks receptions, shows, archery, tennis and poker plus much more, you also get discount vouchers for the spa and little chocolates.
Ice bucket, glasses and bottle opener
Mini Fridge with beer, water, Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Orange juice, Peanuts, Mini Oreo's and Crackers
Slippers
Coffee bar
Vodka, Rum and Whiskey
Nespresso Machine
Robes (the black one is my own)
Bathroom Amenities
Twinning's Tea
Restaurants:
The Resort has 12 Restaurants, 3 of them serve breakfast, 4 of them serve lunch and 10 of them serve dinner. One of the restaurants is strictly for excellence club members it's called Magna so we didn't eat there but over our past 2 visits we've eaten in most of the other restaurants. I'll run through each of them quickly.
Our favourite by far is The Sports Bar surprise surprise- It opens at 4 so you can have a late lunch, dinner, or snacks. It's a fully stocked bar with multiple tv's so you can watch whatever sport you like. Felix is usually on duty in the sports bar along with Vanessa who looks after the food. They have such good food and if you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I love the nachos and chicken tenders here, I'm a simple food kind of girl so I'm happy with some chicken :D.
Next on the list of restaurants that we loved is The Grill - We love the grill firstly because Emilio works there but also the food is amazing. They have a European menu with burgers and steak that are to die for. We've eaten here twice and it was amazing both times.
Next on the list and another favourite is Agave - This is a Mexican themed restaurant and the food is delicious. The main part of the restaurant is open plan so it can get quite warm but they do have seating inside if you prefer a little air conditioning while you eat (we only discovered the inside part this year)
The Flavour Market is another restaurant that we tried this year for the first time and it didn't disappoint. It is a tapas restaurant with quite a variety of food, I don't have any pictures from this restaurant because we were too busy eating, the portions are small obviously because its tapas but the food was really good and you are served bread, cheeses and cold meats before your meal which for me just made it all the more enjoyable because if you know me you'll know I love cheese... I'll post some pictures from the official website.
Next on the list is Basmati - This is an Indian themed restaurant and it is one of my favourites. My husband isn't really fond of Indian food but he will eat it because he knows how much I love it. This was our second visit to Basmati and I would definitely recommend it. The portions, like a few of the restaurants are smaller than normal but because it's all inclusive you can order as much as you like x
This is literally the only picture I took because we were too hungry :D
Chez Isabelle - The French themed restaurant. If you follow me on Instagram you'll know the suss with this restaurant, and the malfunctioning dress that lead to a very stressful dinner :D :D :D But this restaurant, beautiful as it was just wasn't for us. Don't get me wrong the food was really nice but the portions are hella small and we were still starving afterwards so we went to the sports bar for nachos... The menu is decent and my husband got a nice, but VERY small steak that he said was lovely but hence the snacks afterwards, maybe we just have huge appetites but don't expect to be stuffed after eating here unless you order the whole menu, but all in all a really nice place.
This actually looked like it was plonked from a can but Ross said that it was tasty :D
This was like a mushroom thing that I can't remember the name of but it was legit the size of a small child's hand..
Goats cheese pastry, these were tasty but also about the size of my finger
This was just a big fat bowl of nope....
Spice - An Asian themed restaurant that has regular seating in it's main restaurant and the Hibachi grill that you have to book in advance because it has limited space. Now this is where the love hate relationship comes in... Last year we ate in the main restaurant and we didn't like it at all, the food wasn't great. We then ate in the Hibachi grill and even though I didn't eat most of the food on the menu (it's just me being a picky eater) the experience was amazing, the staff were fabulous and the show was amazing, this year however was a massive flop.. it's like they staff on that particular night in our hibachi room just weren't bothered and the whole experience was a disaster, we left before they served dessert and surprise surprise we went to the sports bar for some fried chicken and onion rings. I wouldn't say skip it completely because we've had a good and bad experience in it so I would definitely say if you had about a week in the resort to give it a try, you might get lucky and get one of the good chefs but there are other restaurants that I would choose over Spice if I was only there for a few days.
The Lobster house/Oregano - These 2 restaurants are located on either sids of the main pool. The lobster house is a seafood restaurant and Oregano is an Italian themed restaurant. My favourite of the 2 is Oregano, although the lobster house does non fish dishes the selection in Oregano is much nicer.
Next on the list of restaurants is Las Olas. This is located on the beach and it's a buffet style restaurant that had a variety of different food every day. We didn't eat here but apparently the pizza rivals that of the infamous pizza in Chicago, or so we were told.
The food shark is a handy little snack van that opens from 6-10. We got chilli fries, nachos and popcorn from it this year and it didn't disappoint. They do burgers a selection of sandwiches too.
One of my favourite little spots in the whole resort is the coffee shop. They have a selection of hot and iced coffees, teas, frozen drinks, cupcakes, muffins, macaroons, ice cream, sandwiches, juices and snacks. Their coffee is so good and you know how picky I am about my coffee.
Last but definitely not least is The Kitchen Table, this is the buffet that opens for breakfast and lunch and oh my gosh the selection of food is amazing, we ate breakfast here every morning that we had breakfast, we do intermittent fasting so some days we didn't eat until lunch but every day that we did have breakfast it didn't disappoint. The selection of food is so vast that there is literally something for everyone, I have loads of pictures from one of the days we went for a late lunch so you'll be scrolling for a while on this one :D
The hotel also has a gym, we like to work out when we travel (mainly so we don't feel guilty about eating and drinking all the nice things) but the fully stocked gym in this resort is perfect. It has exactly what you need for every workout and they do daily classes morning and evening, I wont bore you with pictures of the gym. The resort has one main pool and 23 other pools throughout the resort. They have jacuzzis, pool side service as well as waiters that will come to your swim up room and get you drinks from the bar if you like. The scenery is breathtaking and the beach is spotless and beautiful for a little stroll. All in all this resort has been my favourite all inclusive holiday that I have ever been on and I would recommend this resort to anyone thinking of venturing to the Dominican Republic.
One thing I will add before I wrap this up is about the time of year that you travel. Last year we went in April and this year we went in September/October. The "hurricane/monsoon" season for the Dominican Republic runs through June to November with most rain in August/September. It did rain more when we were there this year (it most definitely didn't ruin our holiday because we spent most of the time relaxing and enjoying the free time) but if you go away mainly for the sun then I suggest you go before June. To be honest we thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside reading and listening to the rain but I know that would ruin some peoples holiday so plan your time if travel very carefully.
That's about it for this post, if you made it this far then you deserve a glass of wine, I hope i covered everything but if i didn't feel free to message me on Instagram if you want to know anything else, I'll leave the link here - https://www.instagram.com/blonder_than_barbie/. Thank you all for all the constant love and support, much Love,
Kim
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment