Have you stayed at the Excellence in Punta Cana?

sheenaloveseddie · February 2014

We have found a pretty good deal from honeymoonsinc at the Excellence is Punta Cana DR and I was wondering if anyone else has styaed there? If so do what would you do differently? What were your favorites? What did you not like about the resort? It's always so scary booking these trips and to top it of we are booking Oct 18th which is the ned of hurricane season. :-(

photokitty · February 2014

@AprilH81 didn't you say you went there?

AprilH81 · February 2014

Thanks @photokitty !

@sheenaloveseddie

We went there for our honeymoon from January 26-February 1st and had a great time! I am a frequent traveler, but I usually do cruises so this was my first AI experience.

The resort is about 35 minutes from the airport, but they have a fairly good highway that runs all the way so other than the speed bumps it is a smooth ride. If you plan on doing a lot of excursions (say more than two) I would consider a resort closer to downtown because you are always the first ones picked up and the last ones dropped off.

The resort grounds are beautiful and they have multiple pools, cabanas, beach beds all over the place. The rooms were clean, but we found the beds to be hard as rocks and we asked for a mattress pad and it didn't really help.

The breakfast buffet was varied and good and they always had a Bloody Mary and Mimosa station set up.

We usually ate lunch at the beach grill next to one of the bars and one day we at at The Grill (open air restaurant by the pool).

Dinners were good but not great. I can be a picky eater and I usually don't go for fancy food. I found the food overall lacked some flavor/seasoning but we didn't starve.

We ordered food service a few times and found the portions to be smaller than typical hotel servings (which can be a good thing) so if you are very hungry you may want to consider ordering multiple portions.

Is there anything particular you are worried about other than hurricanes? Just get trip insurance and you will be fine.

Here is a link to our pictures. <clicky>

CamiSelene · February 2014

So glad I found this! We will be going to the Excellence there for our honeymoon at the end of July/beginning Aug. It'll be the start of hurricane season but we are getting insurance and I hear it doesn't get hit too bad, if at all during hurricane season so I'm not too worried.

AprilH81 · February 2014

Excellence has a "Honeymoon Package" that they offer for free. They put a banner on your door, breakfast in bed one morning (really just room service, they didn't do anything extra), a romantic dinner with a custom menu in one of the restaurants, and a 30-minute horseback ride on the beach (which is also included in the resort stay, nothing extra).

We brought our banner home and put it on our bedroom door.

TheGrimReaper · February 2014

I went to Punta Cana in late July/early August and the only effect of it being hurricane season was that there was A LOT of seaweed on the beach. They tried their best to clear it, but it just kept coming up. Didn't bother me because I hate the beach and spent 99.9% of the time at the pool, but something to note!

sheenaloveseddie · February 2014

@AprilH81 Awe it says your album is private. :-( Thank you sooo much for all the information! Food is veeery important to me so that is definitely something to think about.

sheenaloveseddie · February 2014

@camiselene maybe you can let us know how it was when you return. :-)

AprilH81 · February 2014

@sheenaloveseddie

I made the album public so you should be able to see it now. Sorry about that!

jneen101 · February 2014

I'm going in July!

Giaspo · February 2014

We returned from Punta Cana last night and stayed at the Hard Rock. While it was definitely fun, it wasn't a honeymoon type place. It was a party atmosphere with tons to do. I really liked DR and heard great things about Excellence.

Regarding hurricane season, definitely invest in trip insurance and a travel agent. We had our honeymoon canceled not once but twice due to hurricanes and were so happy to have both.. The travel agent is able to make changes and rebook things so you don't have to. If you're really worried about it, we did some research and found that Aruba and Barbados are the two islands furthest removed from the hurricane belt.

AprilH81 · February 2014

@giaspo

We looked at HR (it was H's first choice) but it didn't look like a romantic, relaxing honeymoon spot. It looks fun though, if we ever go back we will probably give it a try.

CamiSelene · February 2014

@sheenaloveseddie I definitely will!

@Giaspo Yes, travel insurance is a must for us! Good advice

sheenaloveseddie · March 2014

So we were originally leaning more towards the Excellence in Punta Cana DR but now the Paradisus Palma Real has caught my attention. Has anyone stayed at the Paradisus Palma Real?

sheslikeasunburn · March 2014

Just to chime in — A few weeks ago my fiancé and I went to punta Cana for a pre-wedding getaway. We stayed at the bahia principe ambar and it was impeccable. No kids allowed at the ambar, which made the experience exponentially more enjoyable. It's part of the larger bahia principe complex which is huge and has loads of amenities. Check it out!!

sheenaloveseddie · March 2014

@sheslikeasunburn I did see that hotel, but from what I could tell, none of the rooms were ocean view. Ocean view is definitely important to me. What were dome of your favorite things to do in DR? Also do you have any tips regarding safety or travel? Anything really lol

sheslikeasunburn · March 2014

we had a corner room in building 60 and could see the ocean. it was one of the buildings that is closest to the pool/beach -- as in no buildings were in front of ours.

we did not leave the resort, so all activities we enjoyed were on-site. this is my number one safety tip -- do not leave the resort. pick a resort that has a lot of amenities so that you have no reason to leave. ours had everything from souvenir shops to a drug store, which really came in handy when i got a sinus infection at the end of our trip! taxis were really easy to get to and from the airport. there is a pre-established flat rate for a ride to/from each hotel. this helps ensure you don't get ripped off. people drive like maniacs in the dr and we saw TWO fatal auto accidents! ask your driver to drive slowly just to be safe (both of ours did).

our resort had free snorkeling, wind surfing, paddle boarding, and sailing.

it was too rough for paddle boarding, but we snorkeled and wind surfed which were both awesome. my favorite thing was banana boating, which was only $10 each! so freaking fun, whatever you do, go on at least one banana boat ride. most of the time we just enjoyed laying under a palapa reading and sipping cocktails. we went and played in the ocean or pool at least ever hour or so to stay cool. i bought an underwater camera so we had a lot of fun with that.

at night we enjoyed cocktails in the lobby, a la carte dinners, and either the casino or night club. we went to a few shows when we had time to kill between dinner and the club opening. the entertainment was fun, and I enjoyed it more than i thought i would.

obviously i am speaking about my experience where I stayed, but all of the nicer resorts should have basically everything i listed above (club, casino, water sports, theater, etc.)

happy to help if you have any other questions! i can't recommend punta cana enough. it was SO affordable, and we truly had such a relaxing, positive, carefree experience. you really worry about nothing when you are there, which is priceless in my book.

sheenaloveseddie · March 2014

Wow thank you so much. I think we will stick to the hotel in that case. We are defnitely just looking to relax as much as possible. Looks like we are going to go with Paradisus Palma Real and upgrade so we can be in the "adults only section". They do have a casin and shows and things of that sort so I think we will have plenty to do onsite. Thank you again for all of your information.

Have you stayed at the Excellence in Punta Cana?

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