I just finished my first trip to the Caribbean and an all inclusive resort. I know a few people are looking at them for upcoming trips, so I wanted to pass on my thoughts. Overall, the trip was amazing! I'm going to give you a lot of detail, good and bad. Mike and I both agree that this property, country, and trip was great. I would love to go again.
We traveled to the NH Royal Beach Resort in Punt(a) Cana, Dominican Republic. This is a small, adults only property with 300 rooms. It is adjoining to the NH Real Arena property which you have full access too (they do not have access to the Royal resort). All rooms but the few ocean front rooms are exactly the same. You just have to pick, ocean view, poolside, or garden view. Oceanview means that you have a view of the ocean, it does not mean you are close to the water. Poolside rooms are very nice, you will have lounge chairs just off your porch and then the pool is literally 5 ft away. You will not have much privacy during the day. However, the pool closes at nightfall and then you have a secluded room until the next morning. Gardenview rooms, if you are on the first floor, you will also have your own lounge chairs, but not as much privacy. If you are on a higher floor, you have a nice view of the property, and more privacy on your balcony.
Note: some people we talked to had visited other resorts in the DR. They said the lobby and rooms were not as grand, opulent, etc as the others. However, most noted that this staff was friendlier. NH was going for the more modern, clean look, and the rooms were nothing to snub your nose at. I choose a friendly staff any day.
We did have a problem when checking in. They were overbooked on the oceanview rooms that we had reserved. But they gave us a few comp amenities and put us into another room for one night. A few hours later, they called and a room had opened up. Lucky us, we still got a romantic dinner for two oceanfront the last night there. It was delicious, romantic, and just the two of us out there!
This property is gorgeous. It is very well manicured, contemporary clean feeling. The staff is amazing. They are friendly, responsive, and have fun! We loved everyone that we encountered throughout the week.
If debating between the two properties, the added expense for Royal is worth it to me. We loved that we saw the same people at the pool, bar, dinner, etc. There is less wait at the bars because of the fewer people. There are waitstaff poolside and at the lobby bar, unlike the other side. They also have additional activities like yoga & aerobics every morning, classes in the afternoon (all about cigars, carving fruit, etc). There is a beach BBQ each day which is delicious!
They have an awesome bar and patio off of the Lobby. Every evening, it was a great place to have a few drinks, enjoy the live band, and soak up the beautiful weather.
The food is decent. Nothing to write home about, but good. There were plenty of restaurants open for dinner service, buffets serving 3 meals a day, 24/7 room service, and snacks. For dinner, we only did the buffet the first night (to late for a reservation). Then we tried out Pure (Royal) which was a 6 course international cuisine. 3 courses were excellent, 3 missed the mark. The third night we went to the asian restaurant. This was a hibachi style restaurant. Delicious and entertaining! After that We tried the Italian and American restaurants. Both were good. The best part of those was the 3 person musical group that came around tableside. They were great!
The drinks were good. They usually poured them a little weak, but if you asked for more liquor most bartenders had NO problem pouring you a generous serving. In your room, you are only going to be provided 2 beers a day and no liquor. They will charge you if you request any additional beers. We didn't find it an issue as there were plenty of drinks in the many bars! If we were in the room, it was a nice and needed break from drinking alcohol.
We decided to relax and swim/read/drink this trip. So we did not do any excursions. Some looked interesting, but we were having fun doing nothing (for once!). I did talk Mike into having a massage (his first!). One package they offer for couples is a oceanfront massage after dark. We bit. They have a hut that is on the edge of the property, and I was very excited. Unfortunately, the property next door had their bar close by, so there was thumping music the whole time. When you could hear the ocean, during pauses in music it was very soothing. Those were far and few between. The massage was one of the worst I've ever had. It was to light (I'm a fan of deep tissue), and she got REALLY up close and personal. There was no "happy ending", but there was no buffer to my lovely lady humps. Poor Mike, same thing. It was not a great first massage experience. I'd recommend passing on this one.
The water was a little rough a few days, and there was no good snorkeling/scuba right off the coast. IF that interests you, you will need to do an excursion.
Some things to make sure you bring:
Plenty of books (I brought two novels and had to slow down the reading so I wouldn't be left without a book)
Floats - many people brought their own to float around the pool wile drinking
Insulated mug/thermos - The pool/beach bar will fill this up. More than the small plastic cups they give you = less trips to the bar
Pepto and Immodium (you are in a 3rd world country, this comes in handy)
CheapCaribbean.com
I'll admit, I was a little nervous booking the trip though them. But, we were very pleased with the outcome! The airlines had our reservations. The bus company (Turinter) was great. The 'tour guide' on the bus gave us a lot of great advice, and information on the country. Very friendly, proud of his country, and welcomed you as a guest to it. Turinter had a representative on the resort property for 3 hours every day. He scheduled your return bus trip, and sold excursions. I expected him to really push the excursions, but he gave us a few options, said he would be there every morning and swing by if we wanted to book one. Excellent!
Dominican Republic -
I loved the country. They have embraced tourism, and welcome people to their country. They accept US dollars, and you will even find a lot of prices in US dollars instead of pesos. The water is clear and the vegetation is beautiful. I definitely want to travel there again. The beaches are all public. This means you will be approached on the beach by people trying to sell you trips, visit their gift shop, etc. No one was pushy, once you said you were not interested, they left you alone (better than the pan handlers in Chicago and NYC!!) The hotel has plenty of security around, in case there was ever an issue.
Whew, a mouthful.