I just came back from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic where we stayed at the Riu Palace Punta Cana. You just can’t beat spending New Years on the beach! The weather was 85 and sunny every day.
The trip from the airport was an easy 25 minute drive, the cost was $40 and there were 5 of us.
The Riu Palace Punta Cana was really enjoyable. The resort has 600 rooms, but it doesn’t feel that big. Our rooms were up near the lobby and it was a short walk to the pool and beach. The beach is amazing. My favorite part of the beach is all of the natural palm trees for shade. No need for beach umbrellas or palapas on the beach. That is really cool and much different than beaches in Mexico or Jamaica. There were waiters on the beach and you never needed to leave your chair for a drink. They also walked around with ice water …delightful.
There were great beach volleyball and soccer games.
The rooms were just fine. Spacious, clean and the beds all have foam pads, so they are very comfortable….don’t believe what you read about hard beds at the Riu’s…not true!
Room service was a bit lacking, but I only tried it once and our coffee never arrived. 🙂
All Riu resorts offer free WiFi in the lobby. They have limited access to 90 minutes per day, per room, which is great because around 6pm…it was hard to connect.
The lobby is massive with at least 15 different seating sections with couch’s and chairs. They also have a big lobby bar that offers WiFi access as well. You can have a late afternoon cocktail and check your emails!
You also have access to several Riu resorts on the complex. We played lots of tennis and ate soft serve ice cream at the Riu Merengue Resort next door.
The food in the buffet was great. My kids loved the Chinola ( a fruit grown in the Domican Republic ). Specialty restaurants were good too, nothing over the top…but the food was good. My favorite was the Japanese offerings.
We took one excursion to El Fieston, an island on the Caribbean side of the island. It was not worth the time or money. The bus ride is 2 hours, then a 1/2 boat ride and the beach was not as nice as the beach at the Riu! They did offer fishing ( you got a line…no fishing pole ??? ), snorkeling (w no fish), Banana Boat rides (lines were too long for my very impatient family) and tubing. The excursion was all inclusive with a beach BBQ, including lobster. It was delicious, but not worth our 12 hour excursion!
All in all, it is a very nice resort with one of the nicest beaches in Punta Cana…I would highly recommend it.
See you on the beach!