In
Dominican Republic,
Dreams Palm Beach
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - Review of Dreams Palm Beach Resort
I have been excited for this holiday for a very long time and now that it's over and I'm back home to the muggy weather in London, I thought I would relive my holiday in a blog post for you! I spent a week at the Dreams Palm Beach Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Location
When booking the holiday, we were told that Punta Cana was off the coast of the Caribbean Sea, however when we got there it was clear that it was part of the Atlantic Ocean - although it probably is a mix of both when you look at the location. I've been to an island on the Caribbean sea and to be quite honest, there isn't too much of a difference! The water at Punta Cana is still clear and although you get quite a bit of seaweed, there is a team that works on the beach who work on clearing the seaweed so its never too much. The water is also great for snorkeling - so if you go, don't forget your snorkel gear!
Weather
I was really worried about the weather in Punta Cana as the week before I was constantly checking online to see what it would be like. The forecast showed rain and thunderstorms all day, every day. But when we were there, it only ever rained in the late evenings, it was bright and sunny throughout the day so it wasn't anything to worry about. During the time I went, middle of May, the weather was on average 30 degrees Celsius, which is about as hot as I can handle!
Resort - Dreams Palm Beach, Punta Cana
The resort was one that had been recommended by my mum's friend, who has been there twice. It's an all inclusive resort, which is my favourite kind as you can eat and drink as much as you want and the entertainment is usually better. The resort had 5 a la carte restaurants (Mexican, Italian, Japanese, French and Seaside Grill), 1 cafe (coco cafe), 1 Barefoot Grill and 1 main buffet room (world food buffet). The a la cartes restaurants offer great food and basically have a set menu you choose from. My favourite out of the a la cartes was the Seaside grill, where it is located just off the beach so you can hear the wonderful sounds of the waves and get that natural cool breeze. But generally, I liked the world food buffet (the pictures below show snaps of this buffet) as the also had a big variety of food and a lot was cooked freshly in front of you. The layout reminds me a lot of Jimmy Spices.
At lunchtime, you could pick up burgers, hot dogs, chips and nachos at the Barefoot Grill which was great for a snack by the beach/pool. They would sometimes have BBQ's on the beach serving delicious fresh good. One of the days they had the chefs go out to sea and they asked everyone to come to the beach side to see them come off their fishing boat with fresh fish which they then cooked straight away for us on the beach BBQ! The fish was absolutely delicious!
They also had a few poolside bars, the one below was situated just in between the pools and the beach and was the most popular for drinks. You could get most of the cocktails that were available from the lobby bar, but they also had a range of soft drinks, spirits/beers and bottled water if you preferred.
Staff
The staff at the resort are exceptionally friendly and welcoming. Many of which are multi-lingual and so it's easy to communicate. The local language is Spanish. All staff would smile and greet you as the walked past them, even the maids and maintenance staff would say Hola! The entertainment team are also great fun and they get you involved in the activities without being forceful. The staff are very helpful in helping you with any problems that you may have and the service in which the provide is spot on!
Things to do within the resort
I've been on many holidays before where we have done a lot of excursions, so we weren't really looking to do many trips whilst at the Dominican. There was still a lot to do on the resort, with 2 large pools, one which was connected to a baby pool and 1 smaller pool that was for the preferred club members only. There was always some form of entertainment going on, whether it was water areobics, yoga on the beach or table tennis and horse shoe competitions. You could attend free scuba diving and kayaking lessons which proved to be pretty popular. In the evenings, the entertainment staff would often perform shows in the Theater. On the beach there is a company called SeaPro who organise water activities like snorkling, parasailing, banana boat rides, etc. Apart from the normal sailing and kayaking, the others do occur an additional cost, so it is a good idea to have some cash on hand, whether thats dollars or your pounds, they usually accept both. I did parasailing with my dad which cost us £70. But prices of course do vary on how many of you there are. Parasailing was amazing, I've never done it before and it wasn't scary at all! If you did want to do excursions, they do snorkling and scuba diving in areas not too far from the resort, they also have a natural shallow pool in the ocean that you can go and visit and an area where there is dolphins and sharks.
The resort is very popular for weddings and honeymoon couples and we often saw the beautiful set ups of the wedding receptions or the bride and groom taking pictures around the beach! I wouldn't mind getting married at this resort!
I hope you've enjoyed this post, something a little different to the usual. If you're planning to go to Dominican then I definitely recommend this resort, but the location in general is spectacular! It wasn't too expensive, but the prices do vary, especially during the school holidays. Apparently the weather is pretty much the same year round (apart from the rainy season), but they do get very busy during the winter months in the Northern hemisphere, where people want to get to a warmer destination. Also, I'm going to be starting a series every Friday where I show you my go to holiday makeup products. It'll be a 4-week series starting next week.
Love Neelam x
Location
When booking the holiday, we were told that Punta Cana was off the coast of the Caribbean Sea, however when we got there it was clear that it was part of the Atlantic Ocean - although it probably is a mix of both when you look at the location. I've been to an island on the Caribbean sea and to be quite honest, there isn't too much of a difference! The water at Punta Cana is still clear and although you get quite a bit of seaweed, there is a team that works on the beach who work on clearing the seaweed so its never too much. The water is also great for snorkeling - so if you go, don't forget your snorkel gear!
 |
| Lobby at night |
The rooms are beautiful, they're a perfect size! The shower and toilet area is just right of the sink.I didn't think to take a picture of the other side of the beds which had a TV unit with a mini fridge and some storage for clothes and things. The view from the balcony was of part of the gardens and a bit of the pool too - again, I forgot to get a snap, sorry! But I really liked the rooms, they were cleaned daily by the maids who always did fancy things with the decor and adding flowers here and there.
I was really worried about the weather in Punta Cana as the week before I was constantly checking online to see what it would be like. The forecast showed rain and thunderstorms all day, every day. But when we were there, it only ever rained in the late evenings, it was bright and sunny throughout the day so it wasn't anything to worry about. During the time I went, middle of May, the weather was on average 30 degrees Celsius, which is about as hot as I can handle!
Resort - Dreams Palm Beach, Punta Cana
The resort was one that had been recommended by my mum's friend, who has been there twice. It's an all inclusive resort, which is my favourite kind as you can eat and drink as much as you want and the entertainment is usually better. The resort had 5 a la carte restaurants (Mexican, Italian, Japanese, French and Seaside Grill), 1 cafe (coco cafe), 1 Barefoot Grill and 1 main buffet room (world food buffet). The a la cartes restaurants offer great food and basically have a set menu you choose from. My favourite out of the a la cartes was the Seaside grill, where it is located just off the beach so you can hear the wonderful sounds of the waves and get that natural cool breeze. But generally, I liked the world food buffet (the pictures below show snaps of this buffet) as the also had a big variety of food and a lot was cooked freshly in front of you. The layout reminds me a lot of Jimmy Spices.
Staff
The staff at the resort are exceptionally friendly and welcoming. Many of which are multi-lingual and so it's easy to communicate. The local language is Spanish. All staff would smile and greet you as the walked past them, even the maids and maintenance staff would say Hola! The entertainment team are also great fun and they get you involved in the activities without being forceful. The staff are very helpful in helping you with any problems that you may have and the service in which the provide is spot on!
I've been on many holidays before where we have done a lot of excursions, so we weren't really looking to do many trips whilst at the Dominican. There was still a lot to do on the resort, with 2 large pools, one which was connected to a baby pool and 1 smaller pool that was for the preferred club members only. There was always some form of entertainment going on, whether it was water areobics, yoga on the beach or table tennis and horse shoe competitions. You could attend free scuba diving and kayaking lessons which proved to be pretty popular. In the evenings, the entertainment staff would often perform shows in the Theater. On the beach there is a company called SeaPro who organise water activities like snorkling, parasailing, banana boat rides, etc. Apart from the normal sailing and kayaking, the others do occur an additional cost, so it is a good idea to have some cash on hand, whether thats dollars or your pounds, they usually accept both. I did parasailing with my dad which cost us £70. But prices of course do vary on how many of you there are. Parasailing was amazing, I've never done it before and it wasn't scary at all! If you did want to do excursions, they do snorkling and scuba diving in areas not too far from the resort, they also have a natural shallow pool in the ocean that you can go and visit and an area where there is dolphins and sharks.
The resort is very popular for weddings and honeymoon couples and we often saw the beautiful set ups of the wedding receptions or the bride and groom taking pictures around the beach! I wouldn't mind getting married at this resort!
Love Neelam x