Just got back last week with my DW from a 4 night stay in Cap Cana. Trip was Sunday morning through Thursday eve. This was my first time in DR, and didn't find too much info in the forums so would like to quickly share my TR. Most of my review will be based around our hotel as we didn't run around much. I don't have many great pictures but will add some here.
Flight: Flew out of EWR with United Sunday morning 7am. Originally booked economy using points hoping to upgrade with travel bank, but apparently that wasn't an option. But I got upgraded to Economy plus for free, got the exit row, and the flight was fine. Security was a breeze despite my wife not having precheck until we returned.
Arrived in PUJ at 12pm, and immediately enjoyed the airport straw hut vibes and live drums. To get to our hotel, I booked a transfer online with a company I found on Viator for $25. I booked in advance because online I read that taxis could cost $50-60. But on my way out there was someone offering for $25 and that would've been simpler instead of figuring it out online and trying to find my ride.
Baggage claim:
Heading out of the airport:
We booked the Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana all-inclusive, which is about 20 minutes away. However, Punta Cana is a gated city and it took about 15 minutes to get past security.
Booking the hotel cost 21,000 points per night for a standard room, or 36,000 for an ocean view junior suite. I booked the suite, and received an email offering to upgrade to a few different options for a discounted rate. I paid $112/night instead of about $175 to upgrade to a swim up suite with club access. The Hyatt Zilara is connected to the Ziva, and is adults-only.
Arriving at the hotel at about 1pm, we checked in at the club, waiting for our room to be ready at about 2pm. The club offers better quality liquor than the regular bars, such as Patron, Don Julio, Glenfiddich, etc.
Between the lobby and pools:
Something I want to add about the hotel that can't be captured properly in writing, is the vibe and friendliness that I felt wherever I went. Whenever an employee walked past me, from the cleaner to the waiter, to the pool boy - they would pause, put their hand across their chest, and nod their head downward while smiling at you - even if they're busy and are holding something. Don't know if this is a DR thing or a Ziva thing, but it felt amazing to be greeted like that 100x a day. The service was excellent throughout our stay, waiters constantly asking if we want drinks, offering food, and some of the staff always kept things exciting and humorous.
Room: Our room was nice, my first time ever booking a swim-up suite, and it was certainly worth it. While it's not private, access to the pool is only possible from the swim-up suites, and most of the time the pool is empty. This pool was kept warm, while the main pools were not.
Swim up suite:
Pool for swim-up suites:
Food: We ordered food in advance from Chabad in Santa Domingo, but as it's 2.5 hours away it obviously cannot be served fresh. It cost $50 to deliver, or $100 on a Sunday. We arrived on Sunday but figured we'd save a few dollars BYOK for our first night, which ended up working out well. The food from Chabad arrived double wrapped, and the hotel had a very helpful manager Santiago who stored it in the hotel freezer and served it to us each day in various restaurants throughout our stay. He was very helpful in taking out the right dishes and getting us reservations and ensuring the food was served on time. The food from Chabad was ok, the chicken dishes and dips were decent, the meat dishes were terrible.
Overall, eating hot kosher food overlooking the beach was a very pleasant experience. For the future I would bring more of my own kosher and order better from Chabad. For breakfast (we both don't eat lunch) we went to the buffet where they had fresh coffee, fruits, and kosher cereal. They also gave us raw eggs, vegetables, avocados. We brought a
Dash mini maker with us, which is a must-have for travel. It's tiny, but fits one egg perfectly however you like to cook it. We also used it to make delicious egg wraps for breakfast, sunny side up, scrambled. It's all great when you're on vacation.
Beach: The beach is really beautiful. The water is a gorgeous tropical blue, and the sand is white. It's also very fine sand and never gets hot. While there is seaweed, they clean it up regularly and there was no smell whatsoever. It can get a bit windy, but nothing crazy, at night is when it affects the most. The hotel offers free kayaking and catamaran sailing. We took out the catamaran and it was fun to learn how to use the wind and adjust the sail to change the speed.
Pool: The pools are nice and have plenty of chairs, but the main pools are not heated. This is definitely a negative, the pool feels slightly chilly even while sunny (but you get used to it fast), and can get cold at later hours or if cloudy. They offered free sunscreen, but I only noticed after I paid $40 at the gift shop. Ouch.
Main pool:
Will post part 2 with the rest.
