|
| NH Real Arena (formerly called EdenH Real Arena) ~ November 2008 |
Photos
Map of Resort
November 9 to 16, 2008
We flew Air Transat Club Class to Punta Cana on November , 2008. Our first week was spent at NH Real Arena (formerly called EdenH Real Arena). Just a name change, no change in ownership or anything.
This hotel is located in Bavaro, about 15 minutes from Punta Cana Airport, 50 miles from La Romana Airport, and 120 miles from Santo Domingo. The cab ride from Punta Cana Airport cost us $35.00 U.S.
The hotel is located between Paradisus Palma Real and Los Corales, and is about a 20 – 30 minute walk along the beach from El Cortecito.
The resort is quite compact, and the layout makes it very easy to get around and find things. Its design reminds me of a combination of several resorts – Punta Cana Princess for the grounds, Ocean Blue for the courtyard area where the restaurants, bars, and lobby are, and Majestic Colonial for the rooms.
Check-In
Checkin is at 3 p.m., checkout is noon. Late checkout may be available depending on availability or they will provide a courtesy room where you can shower and change. We were booked into a Paradise Club Concierge room and checkin was at the Paradise Club Lounge in the lobby, opposite the front desk. Note that Transat Holidays calls the Paradise Club Concierge room Le Mirage Concierge room. I don’t know why they insist on using different names than the hotel uses, it just causes confusion in my opinion. We were provided with a welcome drink and checked in and given a pink wristband, a map of the resort, our key cards and towel cards, and a slip to fill out with time preferences for our restaurant reservations. Transat Mirage and Transat Concierge guests only are guaranteed 5 a la carte restaurant reservations . The Paradise Club lounge was also the checkin for guests that had the Mirage rooms, they were given a green wristband.
The Paradise Club lounge has complimentary internet for Paradise Club guests, snacks, newspapers, a TV, coffee, drinks, and a fridge with beer, pop and bottled water.
During high season Mirage room clients will be booked in at the Paradise Club lounge in the lobby, and the Paradise Club guests will be taken to the respective lounges in buildings 1 and 2 for checkin. These lounges were not in use while we were there, but will be fully staffed during high season.
We were then taken to our room with our luggage by golf cart, which was located in the Paradise Club section, on the 4th floor. Note there are elevators in all the buildings.
Rooms
The rooms are lovely - large and very bright and airy. We had a great view of the pool and beach, we were in room 1460. What was especially nice was the key cards for the door, you didn’t have to slide them, just touch them to the lock like a Paypass credit card. Apparently it will even read the card if it’s in a wallet. When you enter the room you have to place your room key in the slot by the door for the power to work.
Our room had a king-size bed, 2 night tables, a desk, dresser, couch, chair, and coffee table. Note that the Paradise Club Concierge rooms do not have a tub in the room, it is out on the balcony, that was a little disappointing, but the shower is large and very nice. There are double sinks and separate toilet and shower stalls, divided from the rest of the room by a wall, so the bathroom area is more private than their regular rooms.
The room also contained a 27-inch TV, telephone, coffee maker, clock radio with MP3 plugin – never did figure out how to stop the alarm from going off, it went off at 6 a.m. the first two mornings, we ended up just changed the time to a more reasonable hour.
There is a minibar which is restocked daily with beer, soft drinks and water. Leave a note and tip
with your preferences.
Bathrobes and slippers were provided in the room as well as beach towels – we never needed to use the towel cards we had, we just exchanged the towels at the beach for clean ones when we needed them (towels are at the Watersports Centre). An iron and ironing board was provided. There is an ice bucket, and ice machines are located near the elevators.
There is lots of closet space and shelves to put your stuff on and the electronic safe is included. It is large enough for most laptops, you might have to tilt it up a little to close the door. One problem we had with the room was the door banging – changes in humidity make the doors swell and shrink and it was quite breezy while we were there. We solved this by putting a small pad of paper in the door as we shut it for the night.
The bathroom contained a hairdryer, makeup mirror, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, bath sponge, even a plastic brush and comb, sewing kit and makeup pads. Suggest you pack a couple of facecloths, as they are not necessarily left every day, or hide the ones they leave so they don’t take them. We started out with 2, but by the end of the week we didn’t get any. This is not unique to this hotel, happens in all the hotels we’ve stayed at.
We always had good water pressure and hot water. The Jacuzzi tubs are big and take a LONG time to fill up. As we had a Paradise Club room, we only had a tub outside on the balcony, so I only used it once.
We tipped the maid every day and maid service was excellent. I think this is the first hotel where we actually received turn-down service every night, and they literally did a cleanup of the whole room, ie. emptied garbage, washed dishes, left clean towels, etc.
In all room categories they are available with a king-size bed or two full-size (double) beds. The rooms with double beds may have a table and chairs instead of a couch.
The regular Deluxe rooms and Mirage deluxe rooms (same as regular Deluxe rooms, just in a better location higher floors overlooking the pool and extra includes) have an open concept bathroom (no wall), but have a Jacuzzi tub in the room. They are a little smaller than the concierge rooms (495 square feet), but still a good size. These rooms have no Jacuzzi on the balcony, just inside the room.
The Le Mirage Inclusions are:
- preferred room location
- Concierge service with direct phone line and private reception
- Minimum 5 guaranteed reservations for a la carte dining (Transat Holidays only)
- Separate checkin/checkout
- 30 minutes/person/week Internet access in the business centre (must be used in one session)
- Beach towels, bathrobes and slippers in room
- VIP amenities
- Turn-down service
- Fruit basket upon arrival and distinct identification bracelet
- One bottle of rum in room
- 50% discount on a 20-minute massage
- 15% discount on selected spa treatments
- Welcome gift in room
Air Transat inclusions for the Paradise Club rooms (Le Mirage Concierge) are the inclusions listed above, plus:
- Accommodations in more luxurious and spacious rooms (581 sq. ft.) with outside Jacuzzi and ocean or pool view, closest to the beach.
- Private continental breakfast (This is at the Italian Restaurant)
- VIP in-room lobster dinner (restrictions apply and this is for Transat Holidays guests only and is only available for a couple of months during high season (Dec. to Feb.)
- Premium drinks
- Private pool with butler service
- A la carte pillow and bath products (we never saw any pillow menu, but the pillows were fine).
There are about 20 larger oceanfront suites, but these are not sold through the tour operators, you would have to book these with the hotel. You can also purchase upgrades at the front desk after you arrive, subject to availability – the prices are posted. It’s probably cheaper to book the upgrade when you book your trip.
Some rooms with connecting doors are available.
Grounds, Beach and Pools
The grounds are beautiful, I love the layout of the resort and all the palm trees and fountains.. Pools run down the middle of the resort, and rooms are on each side in 4-storey buildings with elevators. There are covered walkways to protect from rain and sun. For a new resort not even open a year the landscaping is very nice. They still need some umbrellas around the pools, there isn’t much shade there and people tended to be on the beach instead. I understand they are working on that. They were experimenting with some shade cloths on the pergolas.
There is a swimup bar in the pool right at the beach, the main pool, and a “relaxing” pool, as well as a kid’s pool. In addition there are two private pools for Paradise Club members at the front of each oceanfront section, complete with bar serving premium drinks.
When you look at the pools you will see they are not the “pool blue” most pools are, the pools actually have brown and white tiles in them and looking at them from the room, the colour matches the colour of the ocean.
The pools are open later than most resort pools, until 8:00 p.m. (bar service ends at 6 p.m.)
The beach here is spectacular, nice and wide, with lots of palapas. You can walk for miles in either direction, it’s easier walking in this section of beach, at resorts further north the sand tends to be deeper and harder to walk in.
Bars and Drinks
Lots of bars around. There’s the Alisios Bar off the lobby (large and enclosed), open from 10 a.m. to midnight – they also have live entertainment here, and Karaoke once a week.
The Olas bar is at the beach restaurant, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Swimup bar – open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – the bartenders are quite entertaining – one day they were delivering drinks to guests at the pool on a bicycle while balancing the drinks on their head.
Tahntra Bar is next to the casino and opens at 9 p.m. This is a very nice open-air bar, they have lots of comfortable couches and even a splash pool.
Sports Bar – open from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. – there are several pool tables in here and a bowling alley. Bowling is $10.00 an hour plus $2.00 for shoes – available from 5 p.m. to midnight. Automatic scoring, so you don’t have to keep score. You have to wear socks. Also a popcorn machine in the bar.
Theatre Bar - open from 6 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Paradise Club bars – there is a bar at each Paradise Club pool, open from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Presidente is the main beer served at the resort, sometimes they may have Heineken, Coronna or Miller’s.
I could not get a drink menu at any of the bars. The bartenders will be happy to recommend a drink. I tried the “Carlos Special”, it was very good. Mostly I just drank white wine though.
Also loved the icecream machine at the main pool bar.
Restaurants
The Festival Buffet restaurant is open for Continental breakfast from 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m., Breakfast from 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Lunch from 12:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., and Dinner from 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
There is a small open-air section in this restaurant.
They had a good selection at breakfast and I enjoyed their freshly-made smoothies and Felix’s wonderful omelettes!
We ate lunch here several times, was very good, with lots of coldcuts and things for sandwiches.
We ate dinner here the first two nights. Loved the food the first night, but I did not feel they had as great a selection of items as other resorts I have been to, but I had no trouble finding something to eat. I was told during high season there would be more variety available – at the time we were there occupancy was less than 50 per cent. They always have pasta and pizza available.
I was a little disappointed in the deserts available, not a great selection, again likely due to the low occupancy.
Service in this restaurant was good most of the time.
A La Carte Restaurants
All of the restaurants are located in the same area, opposite the lobby, with a central courtyard in the middle. This is where some of the entertainment takes place and they have tables and chairs where you can relax with coffee or a drink before or after dinner.
They have 5 a la carte restaurants, and reservations are required. If you are in a Paradise Club room, the concierge will have you fill out a form when you check in noting your preference for dining time, and will make the reservations for you. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work. We didn’t get our reservations and found out they had not been made, but another concierge looked after it for us. Later on during the week we needed to change a reservation as friends were joining us for dinner, we assumed the concierge would look after this for us, but they just told us to go see the Reservations person at the Sports Bar.
For other room categories you make your restaurant reservations at the Sports Bar.
Dress for the a la carte restaurants is “Casual Elegance” – long pants and collared shirt for men, no flip-flops.
Asian Restaurant
Open for dinner 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
This was our first reservation, on Tuesday. When we were seated we realized that there were 3 Tepanyaki tables, but we were not asked if we wanted our reservation for a Tepanyaki table or to order off a menu. We would have chosen the Tepanyaki table. Actually while we were waiting for our food I made a comment to Pat that the food they were cooking at the Tepanyaki table smelled good, and one of the servers overheard me and brought over a small plate of it for us to sample! Our food was okay, but they didn’t bring me what I had ordered, and they ran out of white wine..
Cinque Terra Italian Restaurant
Open for dinner 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
We ate here on Wednesday. We had friends from Santo Domingo joining us for dinner. Service was very slow. Pat and I ordered spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce and they brought spaghetti with a different kind of sauce and no meatballs. Our friends pointed this out to the waiter and he did bring the meatballs. The thing was, our main course did not arrive until an hour after we’d had our appetizers. But, we were talking with our friends, so it wasn’t a big deal for us. We had coffee but elected to skip desert.
This restaurant is also open for a la carte breakfast for Paradise Club guests. We went there one morning, I think we were the only ones there. It was fine and service was great, but we found it just as easy to go to the buffet.
American Shore Grill Restaurant
Open for dinner 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
We ate here Thursday night and again on Saturday night - this was my favourite restaurant. The first time I had a salad, pumpkin soup (aka butternut squash) and beef tenderloin. Cheesecake and apple pie was on the menu for desert, but we were just too full. The second time Pat had the 24-oz. hamburger (really - that’s what it says in the menu, actually it is just a regular hamburger), and I had the “World Famous Ribs” – I actually enjoyed them very much – better than what I’ve had at our local Ribfests. Service the second time we were there was slower than the first time, but they had a couple of large groups they were serving.
Senses Romantic Restaurant
This restaurant is Adults Only, and is open from 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
The décor is all in red and white – red chandeliers, white curtains and fabric on the ceilings, roses on the chairs – kind of cheesy. But the food was good and service was excellent.
Olas Beach Restaurant
Located at the beach, this restaurant is open for lunch and snacks from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
It’s the only open-air restaurant, all of the others are enclosed and air-conditioned. They serve hamburgs, hotdogs, chicken, pizza, salads, French fries, nachos and cheese, a good selection. We alternated between eating lunch here and up at the main buffet.
Room Service
24 hour Room service is included for all guests. The menu is quite limited, consisting of continental breakfast items from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and the entrees available from 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. included Chef’s Salad; Cheese, Olives & Mustard/Raspberry Vinaigrette; Beef Carpaccio of Manchego Cheese; Caprese Salad; Ceviche; Cheese platter; Club Sandwich with potato chips; or “Make your own sandwich – choice of cheese, ham, tuna, and salmon with choice of bread, and Deserts consisting of cheesecake or Tripical Fruit Selection The literature indicates an upgraded room service menu for Paradise Club guests, but I didn’t see any signs of this?
Candlelight Dinner for 2
You can make arrangements for a private dinner on the beach or other area of the resort – see guest services for details.
Lobster Dinners
The Italian and Grill restaurants offer a lobster dinner at an additional cost of $29.99 plus tax.
Daytime Activities and Sports
There is no shortage of activities here, if you want to be active. You can check the activities board near the Buffet restaurant for daily events. They have dance classes, aerobics, cocktail-making classes, weaving classes, beach games, Spanish lessons, all kinds of things.
At the beach is a “coconut tree” for climbing (kind of like rock-climbing) – you get the harness from Animation. I never saw anybody doing it, but it looked interesting. They also have a bungee trampoline in this area, which is privately owned and costs $10.00 to use, again I never saw anyone using it.
There is an ocean trampoline in the water for kids.
The Animation hut is located next to the pool and is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., where you can get board games, books, etc.
Tennis
They have 2 clay tennis courts at the front of the resort, open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Private lessons are available for $30.00 U.S. an hour, you make your reservations with Guest Services.
Watersports
See the Watersports desk at the beach operated by Sea Pro Divers for info on catamarans, party boat cruises, parasailing, glass bottom boat rides, sport fishing, diving, snorkeling, banana boats, kayaking, windsurfing, and sailing, etc. They also have a free scuba clinic in the pool every day.
Nightly Entertainment
They have various entertainment venues in the area of the courtyard
There is the Crystal Theatre where they put on song and dance type shows, some with audience participation. We’re really not into these shows, watched one for a few minutes.
In the evening they have large screens up in the central courtyard and we enjoyed the music videos, ie. Frank Sinatra and Bee Gees concerts..
On Latin night they had an entertainer who put on a “fire” show. He was covered in wax and lit various parts of his body on fire.
Since we get up early, we didn’t stay up for much of the evening entertainment.
Casino
There’s a small casino off the courtyard. There are 25 – 30 slot machines open from 4:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., and poker, roulette and blackjack tables open from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
Internet Access
If you are in the Paradise Club, you can use one of two computer terminals in the Paradise Club lounge off the front lobby for free.
There is also a business centre where you can purchase internet time. (Mirage room guests get 30 minutes free, to be used in one session). If you have your own laptop you can purchase wireless internet access in your room for $25.00 for 24 hours of time good for 6 days.
Hotel Stores/Shopping
There is a large gift shop at the hotel, and space for another store, maybe a jewellery store. Shuttle service is also available to the nearby Palma Real Shopping Centre. We meant to go and check it out, but we never got there.
Golf
Golf is available at 8 local courses. See your concierge or Guest Services in the lobby to make arrangements for any of the local courses or others located throughout the country
Spa
There is a lovely full-service spa run by Renova Spa, open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.. I had a combination massage which was wonderful. They also have two massage palapas at the beach which are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Watch for their daily specials!
Fitness Centre
Next to the spa is the Fitness Centre. Sorry, didn’t go in
Medical Services
24 hour medical service is located next to the gym.
Kids Club
Nino’s Kids Club is located near the buffet restaurant and is for children ages 4 – 12. It’s open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. At night it is open from 8:15 p.m .until 9:30 p.m. when the kids put on their shows and parents are invited to watch. I was told that during high season they bring in kids entertainers to put on shows.
The day I went in there weren’t any kids there, but I was impressed with the facilities they have. There is a full program of activities for the kids, they are divided into two groups – Cubs – ages 4 to 7, and Bears, ages 8 to 11.
Weddings
We didn’t see any weddings the week we were there. There are a number of packages available, starting from $649.00 U.S. For a description of the various packages, see our Weddings Page.
Currency
Take U.S. currency. You can pay for virtually everything in U.S. dollars, and even if you exchange your money, you will get the best rate with U.S. dollars. There is no ATM at the resort. Money can be exchanged for pesos at the front desk, or there is a bank at the Palma Real Shopping Centre.
Weather and Bugs
We had gorgeous weather during our week at this hotel, except for the last afternoon when we had some rain. It was hot during the day, but very comfortable in the evening, not humid at all.
Didn’t notice any mosquitos, there were a few flies and bees around.
Meet and Greet for forum members
On Tuesday we went into El Cortecito to La Casa de Piedra with Hula and her husband and Mikefisher, and met some other forum members for a couple of drinks. These meet and greets are usually held on a weekly basis, a good way to put faces to names if you post on the forums.
Donations
If you want to bring school supplies or other donations (clothing, etc.) you can leave these items with Mike Bryant at the hotel. We had the privilege of going with Mike to a school in the barrio on his weekly trip to deliver school supplies and see firsthand the good that these donations do. The children are so excited to see him, and Magdalena is so grateful for the donations.
Summary
The staff at this hotel are great, they are always smiling and there is always an “hola” when you pass by. Service was good for the most part, but could use some improvement in the concierge area and restaurants. Quite a bit of English is spoken by the staff, the hotel provides English classes every day for its employees..
This is still a new hotel, not even a year old yet, and they are still working on making improvements in service and other areas. We really enjoyed this hotel, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me and I’ll try to answer them for you.
With special thanks to Mike Bryant, Carmen Rosa de Torres, Priscila in Guest Services and Maria in Restaurant services.
| Majestic Elegance ~ November 2008 |
Hotel web site
Debbie's Majestic Elegance Photos
Map of Resort
Majestic Elegance is located on the east coast of the Dominican Republic, in Arena Gorda (Bavaro Beach), next to Macao beach, 30 kms away from Punta Cana Airport, 1 hour from La Romana Airport and 3 ½ hours from Santo Domingo’s International Airport.
Majestic Elegance Punta Cana opened its doors to guests on Friday, November 21, 2008, after having the date pushed back several times. Pat and I had originally been scheduled to stay there from November 16 to 23, but due to the delay in opening only got to spend 2 nights there. We spent the first part of our week at its sister hotel, Majestic Colonial, which is adjacent to Majestic Elegance, an excellent hotel, and I will be updating my review of Majestic Colonial from two years ago as well.
As I start this, I have to emphasize that we were there on opening day and the day after. By the time you read this, many opening day issues will already have been resolved. I spoke to a number of people there who have promised to send their reviews when they return. Most agreed the hotel will be fabulous once everything is up and running and the staff gain a little more experience. Some arrivals who were unaware of the delay in opening were understandably upset, but management was doing everything they could to compensate for this, ie by making all the facilities at Majestic Colonial next door available to them. Some people chose to remain at Majestic Colonial where they had been for the first part of their stay. Make no mistake – Majestic Elegance will be one of the premier hotels in Punta Cana, it’s just going to take time for everything to run smoothly.
We packed up and arrived at Majestic Elegance on Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. They have a beautiful lobby very similar to Majestic Colonial, but the top level is smaller, and the lower level is more than twice as large From the upper lobby you have a beautiful view of the whole resort, right down to the ocean. The upper lobby will also have the Internet Center and some shops. As we were in the Elegance Club section, we were taken to the VIP lounge at the Elegance Club for checkin, where we joined other people waiting for their rooms. We were told our room wasn’t ready yet and it would be 3 p.m. before we could check in. The VIP lounge has comfortable seating, and drinks and snacks were available. Free internet access will be available there, it wasn’t yet set up. Unfortunately the air conditioning wasn’t working in the lounge and it was a little sticky, and it was pouring with rain outside. We were given a pamphlet outlining all of the hotel facilities. I’ve been told that in the future they will bring the guests to the VIP Lounge by golf cart, instead of having to walk.
A little after 3 p.m. the concierge took us to our room, a Junior Suite – the room was absolutely beautiful! We were in Room 4233, which was on the second floor, on the back side of the building away from the pool, but had a nice view of the ocean. The concierge showed us around and advised us that someone would be in shortly to program the TV. (They have brackets on the walls for the TV’s, but ours was just sitting on the table). Someone arrived promptly to program the TV and hook up the phone. We had also discovered our refrigerator wasn’t working, and it was promptly replaced, and stocked with beer, water and pop. This is replenished once a day. Internet access will be available in the rooms for a fee, but was not yet working. We had no hot water initially, and then the water was off totally for a while, but within a few hours we had both hot and cold water. We found that you had to let the water run for a while, particularly in the tub, for it to get hot. The room did not yet have all of the advertised amenities such as. 4 bottles of liquor, alarm clock radio, DVD player, pillow menu and aromatherapy for pillows, newspapers, etc. We did have an iron, and bathrobes. We had a coffeemaker but no coffee, creamer, sugar, etc. until the next day.
We had a very comfortable 4-poster king-size bed, with nice pillows. Nice rugs on each side of the bed. Furnishings are very modern, from the square toilet (the one thing Pat did not like), a shower with 3 different settings, double sinks, and a beautiful 2-person Jacuzzi located in the corner of the room by a window. There is an electronic safe, lots of closet and drawer space, and a separate room service closet. (At first I thought the drawers were hard to close, then realized that you just push them gently and they close on their own.) Lights go out automatically when you leave the room and come on when you open the door.
There are basically two types of rooms – a Junior Suite or a Suite, which is two rooms divided by a sliding door. Other categories are determined by location. I’ll outline these further in this report.
Grounds
In walking around the grounds, there were construction workers still finishing things in some areas, but having toured the resort the Tuesday before, it was amazing how much had been done in just a few days. 500 of the 600 rooms are complete, and it’s mostly inside work for the remaining 100 rooms, so shouldn’t cause disruption. The pools are all filled and operational. The main pool is 400 metres long, running the length of the property and include two integrated jacuzzis. Some of the bars were still being finished. The landscaping looks pretty good considering it is new. They put it in a month or so ago so it would grow a little bit. In a year or two it will be beautiful.
Plaza Colon is an outdoor area with tables and chairs and a stage for live entertainment. They had a band playing here in the evening. The adjacent building will house some shops and Coco’s Nightclub, not finished yet. The building is a replica of the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo.
The theatre and bar on the opposite side of the resort is complete – we didn’t see any shows though.
Beach
The beach is of course gorgeous, and they have many palapas already constructed for shade, as well as many chairs available. There will be a separate area for Elegance Club guests, but this was not set up yet.
Dining
There will be 6 restaurants to choose from plus La Bodeguita del Majestic at Majestic Colonial for late-night snacks.
Flavors is the buffet restaurant.
Argentinian Steakhouse – not sure of the proper name for this one, in the brochure we received it’s called Asadito, but on the hotel website it is called West Meat Corp. – they had no signage up yet for any of the restaurants. – no reservations required
Il Bottaccio – Italian Restaurant – no reservations required
Restaurant 9 Doors – this is a Japanese restaurant and will have 9 teppanyaki tables and a suishi bar – wasn’t open yet. – reservations will be required
Restaurant Limited Gourmand – gourmet restaurant – reservations will be required. – (children over 12 only)
See & Sea Restaurant – located at the beach, will be open for continental breakfast and lunch, and in the evening is the seafood restaurant.
La Bodeguita del Majestic - This is actually in the Majestic Colonial section, across from their theatre – open from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. for snacks.
As there were not many rooms occupied, there were only limited dining facilities available while we were there. The main buffet restaurant, Flavors, will open when the occupancy is higher. We were told for the first night only two restaurants would be open – the Italian Restaurant, Il Bottaccio, and the beach restaurant, See & Sea, which is the seafood restaurant. We were also told that for breakfast the Italian restaurant would be open for a la carte dining, and only a continental breakfast was available at the See & Sea Restaurant from 10:30 a.m.. We later found out the Steakhouse Restaurant was also open for dinner that first night, and for breakfast the See & Sea Restaurant had a full breakfast available.
We went to the Italian Restaurant for dinner, it’s a lovely big restaurant. We ordered and our meal was served in a timely manner. Staff is new, so service was a little tentative, but no complaints, they are really trying. We had Caesar salad and pumpkin soup, and I had veal scallopini and Pat had lasagna (called “over-baked” lasagna on the menu, I think maybe it should have said “oven-baked” : )
After dinner when we were walking around we talked to someone who said the steakhouse was also open and he had just had a fabulous steak.
The next morning we went to the Italian restaurant for the a la carte breakfast, as we were not aware there was a full breakfast available at See & Sea Restaurant. The Italian restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch for Elegance Club members only. There were few people there. We ordered eggs, sausage and toast (they had no idea what toast was) and ended up bringing buns. It was kind of funny because they served breakfast as a 3-course meal – first they brought a plate with just scrambled eggs on it, a little later the sausage came, and then later on the buns. They’ll get the hang of it, I’m sure.
Our last night we went to the Argentinian Steakhouse for dinner. This was somewhat of a disaster. They did not have enough menus for everyone and orders were not being taken. The staff seemed confused. People were walking out, some having waited over an hour and had not even had their orders taken. We waited about half an hour for a menu, and then it was a while before our order was taken. It was another half an hour or so before any food arrived. We ordered a Caesar salad, soup and steak. The salad was fine, although it took us a minute to realize they had brought the dressing separately. We ordered onion soup, Pat’s arrived steaming hot and mine was lukewarm – it was really good though. It was a long wait until the steak arrived - I ordered Churrasco and Pat ordered the Chateaubriand. The food was fine, but it took over two hours to have dinner. We opted to skip desert and went to the bar for our coffee.
Elegance Club (Adults Only section with Majestic Supreme service) - 127 rooms
The Elegance Club accommodations are in buildings at each side of the resort, closest to the beach. There is a separate pool for Elegance Club guests with bali beds, loungers, tables and chairs. and bar service. They were just finishing the rooftop bar area, so it was not open yet.
Majestic Elegance Club Inclusions:
Bars
There are 8 bars plus 4 additional bars for Elegance Club guests only
Spa
The spa and gym are not finished, but guests can use the facilities at Majestic Colonial. They have a wonderful spa there.
Weddings
See our weddings page for details
FACILITIES AND SERVICES FOR ALL GUESTS STAYING AT THE MAJESTIC ELEGANCE PUNTA CANA
Conclusion
Majestic Elegance is a new hotel – there will be growing pains. Go with an open mind and you will enjoy…it will improve on a daily basis! Staff are friendly and eager to serve you. You have only to look at the success of Majestic Colonial to see what it will be. With special thanks to Ricardo Espinosa, Annmarie at Majestic Colonial Guest Services, and Angel, our concierge at Majestic Elegance.
| Punta Cana Princess ~ November 2007 |
REVIEW OF PUNTA CANA PRINCESS – October 28 to November 4, 2007
Debbie's Punta Cana Princess Photos Map of Resort We spent the second week of our Punta Cana vacation at the Punta Cana Princess All Suites Resort & Spa. This hotel is located in Bavaro, 35 minutes from Punta Cana Airport. Punta Cana Princess is the Adults Only resort of three Princess resorts located here – the Tropical Princess and the Caribe Princess. They are sister hotels of the Bavaro Princess, located a couple of hotels to the south. As you face the beach, Paradisus Punta Cana is to the right and LTI Punta Cana (Cayena Club) is to the left. Punta Cana Princess All Suites Resort & Spa was built 4 years ago. It started out as a family resort but was changed to an Adults Only resort (18+) 2 years ago. Its sister hotels, Caribe Club Princess and Tropical Princess were originally Hodelpa hotels and bought by Princess Hotels 6 or 7 years ago. Bavaro Princess which is on the other side of Paradisus Punta Cana Resort, used to be a Melia hotel. Guests staying at Punta Cana Princess are free to use any of the facilities at Tropical Princess or Caribe Club Princess, they cannot use facilities at Bavaro Princess. (Bavaro Princess guests who have the Platinum upgrade can use facilities/restaurants at any of the Princess hotels.) Punta Cana Princess itself is a very compact, self-contained resort, about a 5 minute walk from the lobby to the beach. Guests can also use facilities at the Caribe Club Princess and Tropical Princess, a short walk away, or they do have a shuttle that leaves from the lobby on a regular basis. Check-InCheckin is at 3 p.m., checkout is noon. Late checkout may be available depending on availability or they will provide a courtesy room where you can shower and change. Checkin was quick, you are given your wristbands according to the package you have – regular, Platinum (for Canadians it is called Regency Club), or VIP. You are provided with your electronic room keys, a map of the resort, as well as an information sheet and luggage tags. You find your luggage and the bellboy will put the tags on them with your room number and deliver them to your room. They weren’t busy with checkins when we arrived, so we got to ride with our luggage to the room.
Packages and their InclusionsRoom
We were given the honeymoon suite right at the beach, and it was awesome. We had two balconies, one looking straight out to the ocean, and one overlooking the resort and the beach and ocean. We were on the third floor (top floor), room 5217. The honeymoon suite is decorated all in tones of white. It had a king-size 4-poster bed with netting, nice wicker furniture, a sunken living area with TV, coffee table, and minibar, 2 phones, and an alarm clock. The minibar was restocked daily with water, pop, and beer. TV channels included Court TV, TBS, USA, CNN International, ABC, Cartoon network, nickelodeon, ESPN, several sports channels, CBS, BET TV, FX – science fiction channel, Showtime, Animal Planet, PBS, TNT, Family, Turner Classic Movies, weather channel, Disney channel, and an adult channel. There was also a lounge chair in the room that was so comfortable, actually I think it belonged out on the balcony but because of the rain they had brought it inside. You insert one of your keys in the slot to operate the electricity in the room. There was a huge walk-in closet containing the electronic safe (included, and was large enough for my laptop), ironing board and iron, umbrella, and lots of space to hang clothes as well as shelving, and lots of space to put your suitcases. The bathroom in the Honeymoon Suite was very large. The thing I liked about it was that it had a door on it, it was not open to the rest of the room and there was a window to let in natural light. It contained a beautiful large Jacuzzi tub surrounded by candles, a vanity with double sinks, and a separate shower and toilet stall. We always had good water pressure and lots of hot water. They provide amenities including shampoo, bath gel, shower cap, small bars of soap, hairdryer. We didn’t have any facecloths in the room, so I just used the ones we had brought. Recommend you always pack a couple of facecloths, I don’t think I’ve stayed anywhere in the Dominican Republic where we’ve been given a facecloth every day. I did ask guest services if they had facecloths at the resort and was told they do. There were 2 telephones in the room, electricity is 110 V so North Americans do not need an adapter. We tipped the maid every day and maid service was very good. Nightly turn-down service was provided. I took a number of pictures of the room when we arrived, but due to camera difficulties, it appears that all but one has disappeared into cyberspace, so you’ll have to take my word for it that the honeymoon suites are lovely. There are 7 honeymoon suites in the resort, some are two levels, with the Jacuzzi and a daybed on the second level. The rest of the resort is 263 deluxe/superior suites, they are all the same. They are a good size, with a living area and balcony. No Jacuzzi tub, just a regular bathroom (private). If you look at my photos, I have a number of pictures of the deluxe suites. Grounds, Beach and Pools The grounds are really lovely. Everything is perfectly manicured and there are lots of “Taino statues” throughout the grounds. Everything is kept spotless. Rooms are located in several long 3-storey buildings vertical to the beach (you can walk all the way from one end to the other in an open covered hallway at the back of the building if the weather is rainy), and there are 2 villa-style buildings with garden views closer to the lobby. The pool has a walk-in beach-like entrance. Water was a little cool at the beginning of the week due to all the rain, but had warmed up considerably by the end of the week, the same with the ocean. There was a nice swimup bar, and the pool was kept very clean. The pool is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. There are guards at the beach who may ask to check your band before letting you into the resort. There was a fair amount of seaweed on the beach that they worked hard to keep cleaned up. This, of course, was more than usual because of the heavy rains. The beach is gorgeous, very wide, lots of palapas and lounge chairs. There are gorgeous sunbeds for guests with VIP, Honeymoon or Platinum/Regency Club packages only, security was quite diligent about checking to see if you were allowed in that section. The sunbeds were really comfortable, but a lot seemed to not have a top on them, which makes it very hot being in the direct sun. They had them both around the pool and at the beach. They do have a sign posted saying that you cannot reserve loungers or sunbeds with towels or other objects, and if they are left unattended for more than 30 minutes, they will be removed and other guests can use them. It wasn’t an issue when we were there, we never had a problem finding a spot. The hotel was at 90 per cent occupancy during the week, and by the time we left it was at 100 per cent occupancy. There were guests there from Germany and Spain, as well as North Americans. In June they have a lot of guests from Puerto Rico, but during the winter months, the majority of guests are Canadians and Americans. For Canadians traveling from Canada - I took a look at the Transat Holidays new brochure, and want to point out that the picture of the resort shown is very misleading. It is an old picture, and does not show the mini-spa at the beach, and the vegetation looks very sparse. I was advised the mini-spa has been there for 3 years, so the picture is older than that, probably taken shortly after the resort was built. I also noted that they make reference to the “Regency Clubhouse” in the brochure, which makes it sound like there is a separate “clubhouse” for Transat Holidays guests, but this is not the case. I was told that all “Regency Club” guests would be in Buildings 4 or 5, which are the best location. If you purchase Oceanview you would be in Building 5, rooms in Building 4 would have poolview and some rooms also partial oceanview. Bars and Drinks There are several bars at Punta Cana Princess, the main Oasis Bar in the lobby, the pool bar Splash with swimup bar, the beach bar at Mare Nostrum, and another bar set up in the middle of the beach. There is also butler service at the bar and beach for drinks only. If you do not have the Platinum/Regency, VIP or Honeymoon upgrades, there is an extra charge for drinks with premium liquor. Be sure to request premium liquor, otherwise you will likely get the national brand. Budweiser or Heineken beer is available at all the bars at Punta Cana Princess (served in plastic glasses at the pool or beach, and they may not have both kinds at any given time) Lobby cocktails include Mai-Tai, Merengue, Coco Loco, Tropical Princess, Sex on the Beach, Bavaro Princess, Pina Colada, Caiprina, and Margaritas. They also make great Caesars. I drink white wine and thought their house wine was pretty good. Restaurants Buffet Restaurant (Casabe) – no reservations This is the main buffet restaurant at Punta Cana Princess. It is open from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for breakfast, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch, and 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. for dinnerMare Nostrum
This open-air restaurant is located by the beach. It is open for breakfast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., Continental Breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon, lunch buffet from noon to 4 p.m., teatime from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and snacks from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. (so basically 24 hours). It is also the Meditteranean/seafood a la carte restaurant in the evening. We never tried it for breakfast, but had lunch here most days. There were salad items, hotdogs, hamburgs, a sandwich grill if you wanted to make a toasted sandwich, pasta station, icecream and other deserts. El Higuero Buffet Restaurant – no reservations – located at Caribe Club Princess You also have the option of going to this buffet restaurant at Caribe Club Princess. We never tried it. I understand they serve different food there from the buffet at Punta Cana Princess, ie. if it is Mexican night at Casabe Buffet, it will be a different theme night at El Higuero, and the food is different for the theme nights. A la carte Restaurants There are 4 a la carte restaurants at Punta Cana Princess, and you also have the option of making reservations at any of the 5 a la carte restaurants at Caribe Club Princess or Tropical Princess (guests at those hotels cannot eat at Punta Cana Princess or use the facilities). There is a shuttle you can take, or it is a leisurely 10 minute walk from the lobby of Punta Cana Princess. Reservations were required for all a la carte restaurants at the time we were there, and can be made at the Guest Services desk between 9 a.m. and noon. You can make reservations for up to 3 nights at a time. They have menus for all the restaurants at Guest Services so you can look at them ahead of time. I have been advised that starting in December they are going to a "no reservation" system for the a la carte restaurants in Punta Cana Princess, only the a la cartes at Caribe Club/Tropical Princess will require a reservation. There is a dress code for the a la carte restaurants - Men are required to wear long pants, collared shirts and closed shoes. Shorts are fine for the buffet restaurants. There is no limit to the number of times you can eat at the a la carte restaurants as long as you can get a reservation.Rio Grande Tex-Mex Restaurant – Punta Cana Princess
This restaurant is located close to the lobby and buffet restaurant. Ambience was nice, the tables were nice, we were able to sit side by side on bench seats. You are given a Margarita when you arrive and they give you a basket of corn chips and dipping sauces to start with. Service was good. I had the filet mignon with baked potato and vegetables, and a caesar salad to start, and cherry cheesecake for desert. I have to say it was the best meal I had on this trip to Punta Cana. We had coffee after the meal, they seem to know how to serve regular coffee in the evening at this hotel.. Other menu items included ribs, wings, and beef or chicken fajitas, etc.Il Bacio Italian Restaurant – Punta Cana Princess
Located next to Rio Grande Tex-Mex Restaurant, near the lobby. Usual Italian fare, they had Bolognese Lasagna, Pizza, Fettucini Alfredo, etc. I had the Fettucini Alfredo, it was just okay. They had a trio of musicians going from table to table, who were entertaining and took requests, we gave them a tip, although noticed many did not tip them. My only complaint on this evening was that they had loud music playing in the Restaurant, it was hard to even talk to each other, although another couple we spoke to went a couple days later and said the music was so low you couldn’t even hear it :)La Petite Fondue – Swiss Restaurant – Punta Cana Princess
I really liked this restaurant, mainly because it was something different from the usual a la carte restaurants. There is a fondue pot on each table and you are given two forks each. We had French onion soup as an appetizer and they brought a basket of rolls. You have a choice of the following fondues: Cheese fondue, a Bourgionne fondue of beef, chicken, and sausage (hotdogs), Chinoise fondue – beef slices dipped in boullion, or a Neptune fondue – fish slices and seafood dipped in boullion. All come with several dipping sauces and a plate of French fries. For desert we had a chocolate fondue made with Toblerone chocolate, served with marshmallows and fruit, it was excellent. Mare Nostrum – Meditteranean/Seafood – Punta Cana Princess, at the beach We did not eat here, as I am not a fan of seafood, although they do have beef filet on the menu. It’s right at the beach, so would have been nice for dinner. Some of the menu choices included Grouper filet in coconut sauce, Mare Nostrum seafood mixed grill, grilled lobster, Beef filet in green pepper sauce, Grilled salmon filet and Seafood Casserole Sombrero Restaurant – Mexican – Caribe Club Princess Located at Caribe Club Princess. Main course choices included beef filet, Texan fajitas, chicken fajitas, shrimp quesadillas, grilled ribeye, fish filet, taco combos, chicken chimechangas, pork filet. We did not eat here. Had a reservation for Saturday night, but saw that it was Mexican night at the Casabe buffet and decided to stay at Punta Cana Princess. Mama Mia – Italian – Caribe Club Princess This is a second Italian Restaurant, located at Caribe Club Princess. We did not eat here. Too many restaurants, not enough time.. Some of the menu items included Bolognese lasagna, Ravioli Napolitana, Pizza, Spaghetti, Linguine with marinara sauce, Tagliatelle with mushrooms, Fettucini Alfredo, Chicken breast, Beef filet and Shrimp. Shanghay Chinese Restaurant – Caribe Club Princess We had dinner at this restaurant . The food was good and there was lots of it. I had the beef chow mein, but service was very slow here. They had a large group of people at one table and that may have been the reason for the slow service. Menu choices include sushi rolls, curry shrimp, crab and salmon, seafood fried shrimp, seafood casserole, lobster pieces in oyster sauce, Pekinese duck, Teriyaki pork, beef filet, goat casserole, beef or chicken chow mein, fried rice, as well as appetizers.. El Pilon – Dominican restaurant – Tropical Princess Located at Tropical Princess, we did not eat here. Main courses included goat country style, Grouper filet, Chicken leg Creole style, Pork filet, Sautéed snail meat with fine vegetables, Sirloin in onion sauce, as well as other Dominican Specialties and deserts. Rodizzio Brazilian Restaurant – Tropical Princess We didn’t eat here. Didn’t see the menu for this one, if it’s like other Brazilian restaurants we’ve been to, they serve all different kinds of meat. There is also a Creperie located at Tropical Princess (near the beach) that looked interesting, but never did try it. There are also two restaurants that you can pay to eat at El Pescador Restaurant - $$$ - Specialty Fish and Seafood - Caribe Club Princess. El Pescador Restaurant is available at extra cost - $25.00 U.S. per person plus taxes (total $32.00 U.S.). It is located at the beach at the Caribe Club Princess. If you have the VIP package, you can dine at either this restaurant or La Cava free of charge, once per week. The menu choices include a grilled fisherman platter, grilled lobster, grouper filet charcoal style, and grilled shrimp. We did not eat here. La Cava Restaurant - $$$ - Wine Cellar and Gourmet Cuisine - Caribe Club Princess La Cava Restaurant is available at extra cost - $25.00 U.S. per person plus taxes (total $32.00 U.S.). It is located at Caribe Club Princess. If you have the VIP package, you can dine at either this restaurant or El Pescador free of charge, once per week We chose La Cava to eat at. The food was very good. I had the Shrimp Surprise for an appetizer which was very good, Pat had the Asparagus soup. Entrees included a beef filet, Red Snapper, Palillotte bell pepper, Grouper filet in puffed pastry with saffron sauce, Pork and sweet and sour sauce, Top sirloin in sauce and mushrooms, Chicken mignon in curry sauce and mushrooms, a NY sirloin au maitre d’hotel butter, Duck with honey and thyme sauce, Entrecote served in 3 pepper sauce, Lamb loin au rosemary butter, and Grilled lobster. Pat and I both had the NY sirloin and it was excellent. They also have an extensive wine list if you want to purchase a bottle of wine. Service was good. My only complaint was it was very cold in this restaurant. Pat was fine, but I had a sleeveless dress on and I was freezing. One couple moved to a table outside. So bring a sweater just in case..Room Service
Room service is included free for guests who have the Platinum/Regency Club, VIP or Honeymoon packages. If you do not have a Platinum or VIP package you still have the option of Room Service, but it will cost you a $20.00 U.S. service charge plus 26% taxes each time. Items available through room service include: soup, Caesar salad, garden salad, pizza, calzone, choice of pasta, eggs, sandwiches, grilled porkchops, chicken burgers with french fries and coleslaw, plus deserts. It states to allow 45 minutes for room service, we did not try it. Daytime Activities and Sports Punta Cana Princess has its own animacion team that lead activities on the beach and by the pool – dance lessons, aerobics, games, volleyball, etc. You are not pressured to join in. Sports activities available include tennis, archery, bicycles, table games and mini-golf. The Animacion office is located at the beach, where they have games and books (leave your books here when you’re finished with them, or leave them at the library in the lobby). Nightly Entertainment The Animacion team also has a small show or games in the lobby in the evening, and once a week they do a show at the stage on the beach in front of the Animacion booth. Otherwise you can go to the Serenata Theatre at Caribe Club Princess where they have a nightly show. We’re not big on these shows, and we only went once, it was a comedy show, and we didn’t stay for the whole show. A lot of people seemed to be enjoying it, though. Disco There is a disco at Caribe Club Princess, Areita Disco. We did not go. National drinks are included until midnight, after that you have to pay for drinks. Casino There is a shuttle to the Tower Casino from the front lobby, which is located just outside the Bavaro Princess. It’s about a 10 minute ride via shuttle. The shuttle starts at 7 p.m. and goes to 5 a.m., every 20 minutes or so. Just look for the shuttle with the Tower Casino logo on it. We went once to take a look. It’s a lot larger than other resort casinos in Punta Cana, but it’s not Vegas. We played the slots for a while then left. Not many people at the tables. We were there fairly early in the evening around 9:30 p.m., I’m sure it gets busy later in the evening. Internet Access Wireless internet is available in the rooms here. It is run by an outside company (they manage the wireless internet in a number of hotels in Punta Cana) - you can sign up in the lobby by the computers (the ones across from the front desk, not the computers by Guest Services – the ones beside Guest Services are only for Platinum/Regency Club guests.) Wireless costs $10.00 U.S. per day. For $15.00 U.S. per day you can rent a laptop with wireless connection (note you will have to give them a credit card imprint as security for the laptop.) I bought the wireless for the week, unfortunately due to the location of our room (right at the beach), I couldn’t get a connection in the room, and only occasionally on the balcony. Ended up taking it down to the pool or lobby. They also have two computer stations set up in the lobby that cost $10.00 U.S. per hour. You can use this 20 or 30 minutes at a time until it’s used up. If you have the VIP package, you get a card entitling you to one hour of free internet, but it can only be used at one sitting, ie. if you only use it for 40 minutes, you’re done. If you have the Platimum/Regency Club package, you are allowed free internet access at one of the two computers set up beside Guest Services on the other side of the lobby. You are restricted to 20 minutes at a time unless no one is waiting.Hotel Stores/Shopping
There is a souvenir shop/general store near the lobby, as well as a souvenir stand by the pool. There is a bikini shop at the beach and a Caribbean gift shop next door on the beach. Dominican vendors also come into the resort a couple of times a week and set up their stuff – be sure to bargain. You can get your luggage wrapped in plastic for $7 US per suitcase, this is located in the lobby. Spa There is a spa located close to the front lobby. (Take the first road to the left outside of the lobby). It is run by Metamorphosis Spas, and they have a full range of massages, body treatments, salon services, etc.). If you have the VIP package you get a 20-minute free massage – I opted to purchase an additional 25 minutes for $35.00 U.S. to make it a 45 minute massage. Braids are available for $1 each. Other prices are what you’d expect to pay at home. There is also a Mini-Spa located right at the beach. There are two massage huts, as well as a sauna, gym and Jacuzzi. Also had a massage here, it was very nice.Watersports
Watersports is run by Pelicano Watersports and they are located right at the beach, in front of Building 5. Note that if you pay for watersports activities or excursions with a credit card, they charge you 9% more than if you pay by cash. Non-motorized watersports are included with the basic all-inclusive. There are charges for motorized watersports and instruction. They have a full range of things available - There is windsurfing, catamaran, wakeboard, banana boat, crazy tube, waterskiing, boat trip to the wreck Astron, boat trip along the coastline, snorkel trips (3 hrs. $39 US), bottom fishing, sunset boat tour, deep sea fishing, Speedcat (like a small catamaran with an engine that goes really fast). You can book parasailing here - $49 US for 10 minutes, or $89 US for tandem Excursions include the Tropical Storm Sunset Tour, which includes a lobster dinner at the Jellyfish Restaurant, catamaran excursions, excursions to Catalina Island and Saona Island. Dive packages, PADI open water dives and certification available. With the VIP package you get 1 hour of free motorized watersports. You can do different things that add up to one hour, such as banana boat, waveboard, waterskiing, or on Tuesdays and Thursdays you can take a free 1-hour sightseeing boat trip up and down the coast. Medical Services – near the lobby, available 24 hours. (extra charge)Weddings
Weddings at Punta Cana Princess usually take place at the gazebo at the beach, beside Mare Nostrum Restaurant. There is another gazebo near the Spa at the front of the property, which is also used for weddings, with a garden setting. For information on the wedding packages available at Punta Cana Princess, see our Weddings Page at:Calling home to Canada
I made one phonecall home, from our room. There is a $2 US service charge for them to connect you with a Canadian operator. Just dial “0” for the hotel operator and ask for a Canadian operator. I have a Bell calling card, and just used it to make my call.Weather and Bugs
We arrived here on Sunday, October 28. It was a rainy day because of Tropical Storm Noel, and the rain lasted through Monday. Tuesday was mostly overcast, but dry, and by Wednesday the sun was shining again and the rest of the week was fine, although Saturday and Sunday were really hot and humid. No problem with mosquitos. We had a few small bugs in our room (teeny tiny ones), I think they come in with the flowers they use to decorate the room. Not a big deal. Just don’t leave any food out.Summary
We enjoyed our stay here very much. What I liked about this Adults Only resort is that it’s very compact, and offers everything you need for your vacation in one spot. While you do have the option of going to its sister resorts’ a la carte restaurants, there are 4 a la carte restaurants right at the Punta Cana Princess. It takes 5 minutes or less to walk from the lobby right through to the beach. Staff at the resort are very friendly, and most speak at least some English, and many speak English very well. Management was always visible at the resort, and are genuinely interested in guests’ comments and ways to improve things. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me and I’ll try to answer them for you. Special thanks to Jesus Tabliega, Eric Rodrigues, Raul Cedano, Diana Casoliba and guest services staff for all their assistance.| Grand Palladium Royal Suites Turquesa ~ October 2007 |
Our Photos of Grand Palladium Royal Suites
Airports and Flights
We flew Air Transat out of Toronto. We purchased the Club Transat upgrade, and it is well worth it. The upgrade gives you big seats, with a separate checkin at both airports. Your luggage is given priority, first off the plan and you are allowed twice the baggage allowance. With Club Transat you can have unlimited drinks, a menu with 4 dinner choices, free snacks, free headphones, etc. We actually had good flight times going down, leaving Toronto at 10:20 a.m. and arriving in Punta Cana at 2:30 p.m.
When we got to the terminal building there were, as usual, two girls and a photographer waiting to take pictures, which you can view and purchase when you leave. Went through customs, our luggage was first off and we were out of the airport in 15 minutes. There are porters waiting to take your baggage as you exit the airport, it is easiest to just let them take it and give them a few dollars. A $30.00 U.S. cab ride and we arrived at Grand Palladium Royal Suites. If you are planning to take a taxi to your hotel, be specific about the name of the hotel, the taxi driver confirmed with us a couple of times that it was Palladium Royal Suites we were going to - so many hotels in the area have similar names or different sections. It is about half an hour from Punta Cana Airport.
Location and overview of Grand Palladium Complex
The Grand Palladium complex is located centrally in Bavaro, with the village of El Cortecito to the right of it, and Occidental Flamenco Resort to the left of it. It has 1 kilometer of beachfront, and the resort is built on 320,000 square metres, so even if the resort is completely full it wouldn't seem crowded. The resort was built in 1992 and was previously known as Fiesta Hotels, but in 2004 and 2005 underwent major renovations and was upgraded to their premium Palladium brand. It is comprised of 3 resorts – Grand Palladium Bavaro, Grand Palladium Punta Cana, and Grand Palladium Palace, which has the separate Adults Only (18 years and over) Royal Suites section, with its own lobby, pool and beach area. Each section has its own lobby and pool (there are two pools in the Punta Cana section).
Guests staying in the Bavaro, Punta Cana, and Palace sections are free to use any of the facilities on the property, except for the Royal Suites section. Royal Suites guests can use any facilities on the property.
Grand Palladium Bavaro is the largest section, with 636 rooms comprised of 349 Junior suites, 33 Romance Suites and 254 Superior rooms, in 62 2-storey bungalows of 8 rooms each and 5 two-storey villas of 28 rooms each.
Grand Palladium Punta Cana is the middle section, with 451 rooms, comprised of 243 deluxe rooms and 12 junior suites in 3 buildings of 85 rooms each, and 14 loft suites (junior suites with two levels) and 182 deluxe rooms in 7 villas of 28 rooms.
Grand Palladium Palace was built in 1996 and totally renovated in 2004. It consists of 504 rooms, comprised of 202 superior double rooms and 78 loft suites (24 of which are honeymoon suites), in 14 two-storey villas of 20 rooms, and 6 junior suites and 78 superior double rooms in 3 two-storey villas of 28 rooms.
The Royal Suites was built in 2004 and consists of 124 junior suites, 15 honeymoon suites, and 1 Presidential suite, located in 3 three-storey buildings forming a horseshoe shape around the pool. All rooms have at least a partial view of the beach.
I had the opportunity to see some of the different room types in the Palladium complex. All the rooms have been renovated in the last few years and look like new. They have some different types of rooms, ie. Loft suites in the Punta Cana or Palace sections have a second storey bedroom accessed by stairs with one king or two doubles, that is open to the entire room. On the ground floor there is a sitting area with a queen-size pullout couch, and full bathroom with jacuzzi tub. In the Bavaro section there are Junior suites that can accept a family of 5, and Junior Suites that have an adjoining deluxe room for larger families. In the Bavaro section only, pay-per-view movies, sports, and video games are available. The Bavaro section also has Romance Suites that are for adults only - they are closest to the beach and have a private outdoor shower under a thatched roof as well as a hammock for two (these rooms are gorgeous!)
All rooms are a good size. Junior suites are 47.28 m2/510 sq. ft., Loft suites are 50.96 m2/548 sq. ft., and Deluxe(Superior) rooms are 30.33 m2/326 sq. ft. Royal Junior Suites are 41.08 m2/442 sq. ft., and Royal Honeymoon Suites are 51.65 m2/556 sq. ft.
Getting around the Resort
Depending on which section you are in and where you want to go, it could be a very long walk. They have two trams that run around the resort every 20 – 30 minutes. This is the best way to get from one place to another. It stops at all the lobbies, the casino, the spa, and several other stops along the route. You are given a map of the resort when you check in, and there are “You are Here” maps posted at various places throughout the resort. For Royal Suites guests, it is a short walk to the Royal Gourmet Restaurant, Palace Lobby, and Casino. See the Map we have posted, it was submitted previously by one of our reviewers and shows the different sections of the resort, and is still the current map.
Check-In at Royal Suites - Adults Only (18+)
Although Royal Suites is considered part of the Palace, it has its own lobby. The lobby is smaller than the others and enclosed and air-conditioned.
Checkin is at 3 p.m., checkout is 12 noon (late checkouts may be available at additional charge). We were given VIP wristbands (I don’t think this entitled us to any extra services, though), towel cards, a map of the resort and information sheet, and our room keys (electronic key cards). One key operates the power in the room and must be inserted in the slot inside the door. Keep your keys in the sleeve they give you and don’t put them near the TV or phone or anything magnetic. We did have some issues with our keys and sometimes it would take 5 or 6 tries to open the door. The remote for the TV is in the room. Our room was located in the same building as the lobby, we were on the third floor, in a honeymoon suite, room 5142, and our luggage was brought to our room promptly. A fruit basket and bottle of rum was in our room.
Note there are no elevators anywhere in the Palladium complex.
Room
The Honeymoon Suite was beautiful. It was on the third floor, right in the centre of the building, and we had a view of the whole Royal Suites section and the beach and ocean. It was very large, decorated in white tones, consisting of a king-size 4-poster bed, open-concept bathroom with double sinks, shower stall and toilet stall, as well as a living area with sofa, coffee table, desk, and table and chairs. There was no tub in the room, it was located out on the huge balcony – a large double Jacuzzi tub. Although we did use it a couple of times, I felt that it was not private enough, and would have rather had it in the room, or had a screen of some type on the balcony that you could pull for assurance of privacy.
The room had a telephone, coffee-maker, ice-bucket, satellite TV with a lot of English stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN Sports, Showtime, CNN, TNT, Discovery, BBC America, Cinemax, SciFi) – unfortunately the satellite signal seemed to go out frequently, probably because of the weather, so some channels weren’t always available. There was a basket in the bathroom containing bottles of shampoo and bath gel,shower cap, bath sponge, combs, makeup removal pads, razors, toothbrushes, no body lotion though.
Bars of soap were very small, I was glad I had brought my own. There is no clock in the rooms. You can leave a wakeup call if you need to, but I prefer to bring my own travel alarm clock.
There is a mini fridge stocked with 2 large bottles of water, 1 bottle of Orange, Sprite, Coke, Coke light and 2 beer, one Presidente and one Bohemia. The mini fridge is restocked daily at Royal Suites, 3 times per week in the other sections of the resort. Bottled water is readily available at any of the bars, and in the Royal Suites you just have to go to the lobby and grab it out of the cooler there, which also contains pop and beer, as well as salads, fruit, and wraps if you’re looking for a late night snack.
We did receive facecloths most days, a couple days we did not. I always pack a couple of my own. Another thing I took this time was a nightlight, which came in handy.
There was also an ironing board and iron, bathrobes and slippers. There are no umbrellas in the rooms, which would have come in handy a couple of days we were there, but apparently they are available at reception if you ask for one.
There is a combination in-room safe, at no extra charge. I had brought my laptop with me, but I could not fit it into the safe. A smaller laptop may fit though.
Maid service was excellent, we tipped $3 a day and we had some wonderful towel art every day. Air-conditioning worked great, it was almost too cold sometimes and we used the blanket provided, there was also an extra pillow. There is no turn-down service provided in the evening.
The regular rooms in the Royal Suites section, Royal Junior Suites, are spacious (41.08 m2/442 sq. ft.)and include a king-size or two double beds, as well as the living area with sofa, open-concept Jacuzzi tub, and shower and toilet stalls.
I didn’t get to see the Presidential suite
Currency
Take U.S. currency, cash is best. You can pay for virtually everything in U.S. dollars, and even if you exchange your money for pesos at the front desk, you will get the best rate with U.S. dollars.
Grounds, Beach and Pool
The grounds and beach of this complex are beautiful. I was told they have 70 gardeners working there. The grounds are perfectly manicured and everything is kept very clean. The beach area in front of Royal Suites is reserved exclusively for Royal Suites guests. Lots of shade on the beach, - trees and palapas - they have recently added more palapas. There was never a problem finding a place to sit, any time of the day, although Royal Suites was only at about 45% occupancy when we were there, as were the Palace and Punta Cana sections. The Bavaro section was at 89% occupancy. Lots of guests from Europe – Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Austria, not as many North Americans this time of year. Americans and Canadians are the majority during the winter season.
The Royal Suites pool is in the centre of the Royal Suites section. It has a walk-in entrance and integrated Jacuzzis (cold). There is a nice swimup bar. Towels are available at the activities centre by the beach. We alternated between sitting on the beach and around the pool. Both the ocean and the pool water were warm, it was beautiful.
The Royal Suites area is very quiet. There are no activities staff here, or loud music. If you want to join in activities you have to go to other areas of the resort or further down the beach. The activities staff come around once in a while to see if people are interested in joining an activity. There are listings of the activities available, with times and locations in the Royal Suites lobby. We were content to relax by the pool or beach and read a book (vacations are the only time I ever have time to read). If you run out of reading materials, there are books in the lobby that people have left, and we also left the ones we had finished with. Also available in the lobby each day are internet newspapers from various countries, they had the National Post. You can't take it out of the lobby, for an extra charge you can have a copy delivered to your room each day.
A photographer came around the pool area a couple of times to take pictures. He brought parrots the first time, and a snake the second time. I got as far away as I could.
Dolin Dive Center runs the watersports at the resort. The dive center is located at the beach at Grand Palladium Bavaro Included watersports are kayaks, catamaran (lessons extra), windsurfing (lessons extra, from $40 US) (1 hour per day). Here you can also book banana boat rides, waterskiing, parasailing ($45 US for 10 minutes, $85 US for 10 minutes tandem), snorkeling trips, glass bottom boat, speedboat trips, deep sea fishing, trip to Catalina Island, and Sunset boat tours. And of course dive instruction and trips are available.
You can also book deep sea fishing trips on the beach at El Cortecito, just go down the beach to your right from Royal Suites.
Bars and Drinks
There are numerous bars throughout the complex:
Bavaro Section: Weather and Bugs
Lobby bar Caoba – open 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Pool bar Boca Chica with swimup bar – open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Cocktail Bar Hemingway – open 6 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. – very nice – air-conditioned and comfortable seating and music.
Punta Cana Section:
Lobby Bar Macao – open 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Pool bar Samana with swimup bar – open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Pool Bar Saona – open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Palace Section:
Lobby Bar Guayacan – open from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Pool bar Barahona with swimup bar – open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Royal Suites Section:
Lobby Bar – open from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Swimup Bar at Royal Suites Pool – open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sports Bar – open 24 hours
Casino bar – open 10 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Plus 6 Bar kiosks along the beach, and bars in the two theatres and the disco.
Bars offer national drinks and some imported drinks (selection will vary from bar to bar). Beer is Presidente and Bohemia, sometimes they have Budweiser.
I mostly drink white wine and found the house wine pretty good after I got used to it. Also had a few Banana Mamas which were excellent.
Royal Suites guests have pool and beach bar service, so you don’t have to move if you don’t want to.
Restaurants
There are a number of dining options available. Overall, I would consider the food quality and choices available to be excellent, both in the buffet restaurants and the a la carte restaurants.
Royal Gourmet Restaurant
Royal Suites guests have exclusive use of the Royal Gourmet Restaurant, which is enclosed and air-conditioned. It is all glass windows, very bright and clean-looking. In the morning watch where you sit or you may get the sun in your face.
The Royal Gourmet is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for breakfast and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. It is not open at lunchtime. No reservations are required. Men must wear long pants at dinner. Note that there is no smoking in any of the enclosed restaurants on the property, only the open air restaurants have smoking areas.
There is an a la carte menu for breakfast and dinner, along with buffet items. We ate breakfast here several times. We would order off the menu and then check the buffet for anything else we wanted. Everything is served piping hot and was very good.
We ate dinner here twice. The first time we had the beef tenderloin, it was okay, but not great. The other time I had Churrasco (Argentine Flank steak), and Pat had Chicken Parmesan and it was very good. On Sundays, they have Lobster as a special, but since we don’t like lobster, we opted for the buffet that night. Each day has a special listed, but most items are available every day. They had copies of the menus for each day posted in the lobby of Royal Suites, basically the same with a different special each night and a few slight changes.
Las Torres Buffet Restaurant – Palace Section
This buffet is right next to the Royal Gourmet Restaurant, and we ate dinner here a couple of times and breakfast most days. It is open from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for breakfast and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. It is not open at lunchtime. There was always a large selection of food and it was very good. In addition to the prepared food in the buffet, you could ask for a steak, hamburger, porkchop or hotdog and they would cook it for you. They always had several kinds of pasta, salads, rice dishes, vegetables, fish and meat, cheese and breads and deserts. Getting drinks was a little hit and miss sometimes, ie. at dinner they’d bring the wine but not the water. We enjoy a cup of coffee after our evening meal, and this seemed to be a problem in all of the restaurants. We’d ask for Café Americano or Cafe con Leche, and end up with espresso almost every time – best to stick to cerveza.
The buffet restaurants have a different theme every night, ie. Sunday is Americano, Monday is Mexican, Tuesday is Oriental, Wednesday is Italian, Thursday is Dominican, etc.. This is also posted in the lobby of Royal Suites every day.
La Catedral Buffet Restaurant- Bavaro Section
Same hours as Las Torres. We did not eat here. I enquired if there was different food at the different buffets and was told it was the same at all of the buffet restaurants.
El Behique Buffet Restaurant – Punta Cana Section
Same hours as the other buffets, and is also open at lunchtime from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. We ate lunch here once, it was very nice, again lots of choice.
Each section also has its own beach restaurant, located between the pool and the beach.
El Bohio Lunch Buffet - Palace Section
Open from noon to 4 p.m. for lunch. This is where we ate lunch most of the time, it is closest to Royal Suites. Good variety and service. I loved their Waldorf salad, and later in the week they had potato salad, which was excellent. Again, you could have a hamburger or hotdog or porkchop or steak cooked to order. They also had a machine for icecream cones. I thought originally that it was soft icecream but it wasn’t – it was great. A lot easier than trying to scoop out of frozen icecream containers.
La Uva Lunch Buffet – Punta Cana Section
Open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for lunch, and it is also open for continental breakfast and snacks from 10 a.m. to noon, and snacks from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. We were told it was nice here, same food as other lunch buffets but a nicer atmosphere. We never got to try it though.
Arrecife – Bavaro Section
Open for lunch from noon to 4 p.m. Didn’t eat here.
A La Carte Restaurants
The hotel now has a “no reservations” system for all of the a la cartes for this season. (It’s something they are trying out to see how it works, so it is subject to change). Previously guests had to make reservations for the a la carte restaurants, and guests other than those in Royal Suites were restricted on the number of times they could eat at a la carte restaurants. Now no one needs to have a reservation, it’s first come, first served..
Royal Suites guests have the option of making a reservation at the front desk in the morning for their choice of a la carte restaurant and they will be guaranteed a table at the time they select.
All a la cartes are open from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Note that if it is the Mexican theme night at the buffets, the Mexican a la carte restaurant will be closed, if it is the Italian theme night, the Italian a la carte restaurant is closed, etc.
There are 5 a la carte restaurants:
Mare Nostrum – Italian – Palace Section
This restaurant is located right next to the Las Torres Buffet Restaurant. There are a number of menu choices, as well as an antipasto/salad bar. Food and service was very good. I had the veal parmesan.
El Arrecife – Seafood – Bavaro Section
We did not eat here as I don’t like seafood, but in looking at the menu later I saw that they do have steak, chicken and pork entrees on the menu. This restaurant is right at the beach. According to the menu, there is an extra charge for Lobster.
Bamboo – Asian Restaurant – Bavaro Section
This restaurant is located off the lobby of the Bavaro Section. Nice décor, lots of bamboo. The menu includes dishes from China, Japan, India and Thailand. They also have an antipasto/salad bar. We ordered our meal and because we were in Royal Service they also brought us a plate of extras. The food was very good, but we were so full when we left…
El Quijote – Spanish Specialties – Bavaro Section
This restaurant is also located off the lobby of the Bavaro Section. Again, this was very good. I had lamb, Pat had beef, and they also had an antipasto/salad bar. Good service. Interesting décor, chandeliers made out of bottles.
La Gran Cantina Mariachi – Bavaro Section
Also located off the lobby of the Bavaro Section. We ate here on our last night and it was pouring with rain. The food was good here, but service wasn’t the best as they were having issues with water leaking through the roof. I had a buffalo wing appetizer that was almost a meal in itself, and then a steak with guacamole. There was also an antipasto/salad bar, so we were stuffed when we left.
House wine is included at all the restaurants; they also have a wine list if you want to purchase a bottle of wine with your meal.
Dress Code for the a la carte restaurants is long pants for men. Having said that, I did see some men in shorts in the a la carte restaurants… Dress shorts are fine for the buffet restaurants.
Room Service
Only Royal Suites guests have room service, which is available 24 hours. There is a $6.00 U.S. service charge. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., main courses from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and salads and sandwiches are available 24 hours. We never tried room service, it says to allow 20 to 30 minutes for delivery.
Nightly Entertainment
There are two theatres here, one at Grand Palladium Bavaro, the Sunset, and one at Grand Palladium Punta Cana, the Merengue . The shows didn’t start until 10:00 p.m., we never did make it to one. In the Royal Suites lobby they post which shows are available at which theatre. Karaoke, Michael Jackson show, Dominican Folklore, Phantasia of Horror, Gala..were a few I saw listed.
Disco
The Sunset Boulevard Disco is located across from the main lobby of the Palladium Bavaro and is open from 11:15 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. – never went in, too late for us..
Casino
The casino is located near the Palace lobby. The slot machines are open at 10 a.m. to 3 a.m., the tables don’t open until 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. We went in a couple of times and played the slot machines, didn’t win anything but they have 1 cent and 5 cent slot machines, so you can play for quite a while. Drinks are included here. Tables are Blackjack, Caribbean Poker, and Texas Holdem Poker.
Internet Access
There are two computers in the lobby of Royal Suites which are free for Royal Suites guests to use and are available 24 hours a day. Connections were a little intermittent, it was down the first day we were there and went out a couple of times during the week for short periods.
For non-Royal Suite guests there is an internet café in the Palace area and in the Sports Bar in the Bavaro side of the complex where they charge $5 US for 30 minutes or $8 for an hour.
Apparently there are plans to have wireless internet in the resort in the future.
Hotel Stores/Shopping
In the Palace area you will find a gift shop, logo shop, and supermercado. I went in to buy some hairspray as I had forgotten mine, but decided that $18 US for a can of hairspray was a bit much.
The Dominican vendors also come into the resort once a week, or you can walk down the beach to the right where you will find a lot of vendors.on the beach and in El Cortecito. Be prepared to bargain, and everyone will want you to come and look at what they have for sale.
Spa
The spa at Grand Palladium Resorts is operated by Renova Spa and is currently located near the beach at Palladium Punta Cana. It is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The gym, sauna, steam room, and Jacuzzi are included in the all-inclusive plan (reservations may be required). The gym is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
I went to the spa for a massage and it was wonderful. I had the 80 minute Stress Cure massage, s a combination-type massage - cost is $110.00 U.S. They have many different types of massages and body treatments available starting from $55.00 U.S., as well as manicures, pedicures, and hair salon services, There are also massages available at the beach.
A large new spa is currently under construction across from the Royal Gourmet Restaurant. They are building a huge new spa scheduled to be completed in December, it will be the largest in the area.
Sports
The Sports Center is located centrally in the Punta Cana section of the resort, furthest away from the beach. (Note that sports activities organized by the animation team take place at the beach and pools.) Archery, rifle shooting, badminton, basketball and mini golf are located at the sports centre, as well as the tennis courts, and a soccer field.
Medical Services – available 24 hours.
Weddings
For information on Grand Palladium Resorts wedding packages, see our Weddings Page at:
http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/wedding.html
Tours
Tour reps have desks in the lobbies of the various sections (never saw any reps in the Royal Suites section), you can check their books and see what their hours are in the other sections, and you can see them for available tours. Also, if you have any donations of school supplies, etc. that you bring with you, Apple (Amstar) reps at the hotel will gladly accept them and see that they are distributed to those that need them.
| Majestic Colonial ~ December 2006 amd December 2008 |
I originally wrote this review in December 2006. We stayed at Majestic Colonial for 5 days in November 2008, as a result of which I have updated some of the information in this review.
Arrival