Punta Cana Paradisus

This is a great place to come and relax. Punta Cana is one of the fastest growing resort destinations in the Caribbean, already surpassing all of Puerto Rico in number of rooms (15,000+). Paradisus offers the "premier" all-inclusive resort in the Bavaro beadch area, and at a night, it is truly all inclusive. The staff on hand was all dominican with a Spanish administration. We had quite a few too many problems with the rooms and such, but it was all worked out. This club has a lot of potential and hopefully in the future will improve with age.

Quick Tips:

Tips: Make as many restaurant reservations as early as possible. Do not wait until the last minute. Your best bet may even be the buffet main dining room, although the Japanese tepanyaki is pretty good.

Also, as I would advise all travelers, do not hesitate to ask for a rooms manager to work out any problems, especially in a foreign country where you may not be familiar with their customs. If the rooms manager does not help, do not hesitate to ask for the general manager. You are paying the money to stay wherever you go, so they are there to make the time for you.

Also, please note that this resort caters greatly to the European crowd, especially Germans, French, and Spaniards (Sol Melia is a Spanish company).

Best Way To Get Around:

Best way to get to Punta Cana, if you can, is direct from New York or Miami on LanChile. It's a very good airline which is a OneWorld Alliance member. If not, you can always fly to San Juan and take a half hour puddle jumper (American Eagle), to Punta Cana. The airport just underwent a million renovation... much nicer than what it used to be. You want to get a transfer to the club and pre-arrange it with your travel agent. When there, there is little or nothing to do outside of the club. Punta Cana itself is a poor area, but hopefully the budding tourism will help the town itself.

P.S. - Horseback riding, although included, isnt really worth the pain in the rear :-)

The accommodations here are very nice. Every room is either a king bed or two doubles. My room unfortunately had a problem with the bathroom. But if you are adamant enough you can get that fixed. Each room has a TV with satellite, and a living area with a chair and loveseat and coffee table. The design is very tropical with light coloring. Some rooms require key access while the newer bungalows (8 suites to a bungalow) use keycard entry and are more modern.

This is one of the included restaurants out of I believe 7. Please disregard the price, as there is no additional charge for eating here. This is good for family dining and for small kids to watch. The food is good, and the entertainment, although not Benihana, is amusing. If you travel here, I highly recommend eating at this restaurant.

This is one of the nicest beaches in Punta Cana... one of the reasons Paradisus is rated as one of the top resorts there. Just enjoy it as much as possible.