Punta Cana 2022

The week before Christmas, J and I flew to the Dominican Republic to spend a week at an all-inclusive resort. We stayed at the Excellence Punta Cana, in Playas Uvero Alto, a town about 40 minutes west of Punta Cana. It was an adults only resort, which made it extra enjoyable for us, as the plane ride down was full of crying babies.

It was my first time doing a vacation of this style. Typically, I'm planning activities and excursions and meals but this time around, we mostly stuck around the hotel and just participated in their planned classes and demonstrations and ate and drank to our heart's content since it was all "free" and unlimited.

We had booked a room with a private plunge pool which meant that we were automatically enrolled in the Excellence Club. This meant was got free transfers to and from the airport and we were able to get checked into our room in an air-conditioned area. We were greeted by the bus boys with a cool towel and a glass of champagne and then whisked away to our room.

Our room was lovely. It was a decent size, there was a big tub for bubble baths, a rain shower, our own patio and plunge pool with a comfortable sun lounger, and there was also a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us.

 

After settling in for a minute, we popped on our swimsuits and went for a walk around the resort to explore the grounds. We walked along the beach, ambled past all of the restaurants, and got familiar with our surroundings.

We also grabbed our first cocktails from the bar.

From hereon out, our days were pretty much a routine. I would get up every morning to watch the sunrise, we would spend some time by the beach or pool, grab food and drinks from the various eateries and bars, and then decide whether or not we were interested in the evening's show. We made an effort to eat at every eatery at least once and ended up really enjoying all of the food. In the end, my favorite was Chez Isabelle (the french place) and the breakfast buffet at The Kitchen Table was awesome too.

We also booked in spa services before we'd arrived. The first session was a couples' massage on the beach. Every service came with a session of hydrotherapy, which was super fun. It started with some time in the sauna, followed by a cold splash of water, a pineapple body scrub and shower, time in the steam room, time in the ice room (where we rubbed little bits of ice all over ourselves), and then we were guided into the pool where we experienced a wide swan-necked faucet that was meant to massage our shoulders, a narrow swan-necked faucet that was meant to massage our mid to lower backs, jets that came out of the floor to massage our legs, and then a metal bed that sent jets up all over our bodies. Then the last steps were to step into the cold plunge followed by the hot plunge. Once we dried off, we were led to heated lounge chairs where we had mini shoulder and head massages. Then we had a beverage before getting our treatments.

We loved the hydrotherapy so much and since Excellence Club members get a free hydrotherapy session, we booked one for the middle of our trip as well.

The beachside massages were really nice. Listening to the waves crashing while getting oiled up and having a professional push the stress and tension out of our muscles was the ideal way to kick off the vacation.

We did leave the resort once to go on a deep sea fishing excursion. It didn't really end up being what I had thought it would be (no one actually got to do any real fishing and we just had to watch the boat people set the reels). Also, there was a woman on board who was sick the entire time. I'm also prone to seasickness so I had prepped with Dramamine and my seabands so I felt great, but watching her puke into a clear baggie and continue examining the contents of the bag almost made me lose it; it was rough. However, J really enjoyed himself so I was pretty pleased with the outcome regardless.

We booked another spa treatment for the day before we were checking out. This time around, it was a massage and facial combo. It was so relaxing that I kept falling asleep.

So, would I book a trip like this again? Hell yeah. This was a vacation that really felt like a vacation and I finally understand why people love all-inclusive trips. You don't really have to think about anything but there's still plenty of entertainment and activities to keep you occupied and you can feel relaxed without being bored.

xoxo.