Let's Go to the Beach, Let's Get Lost: Dominican Republic - Emily Sapier (2023)

After a turbulent year of a lot of stress, incredible loss, and the ongoing pandemic, we knew we wanted to get away for a while. We had originally talked to a travel agent about a more adventurous trip to Belize, but when the time came, we just needed a break from thinking/planning/running from one thing to the next. So we jumped at the chance and got a Black Friday deal through Excellence Resorts.

There are two Excellence-branded resorts in the Dominican Republic, Excellence El Carmen and Excellence Punta Cana. We chose Excellence El Carmen based on reviews and photos online. Punta Cana was the original resort and El Carmen is a bit newer. (They also have a family brand called Finest if you're traveling with kids.)

Go there:

We arrived on a Tuesday to a resort that was at 70% capacity. As we were at our final dinner on Friday night, many, many people signed up. We never waited for a table, never had a problem finding pool or beach chairs, and the service was impeccable.

The weather was a mild 80-82 degrees with a constant light breeze.

The porter walked us to our room, showed us how to use the fountain in our pool, explained the room service situation, the minibar, and everything else we needed to know.

The complex is just as beautiful in real life as it is online.

Some of the restaurants are nice or have great views, or both!

They have a great app with a list of which restaurants are open and when, the dress code, the entertainment schedule for the day, and literally everything you need to know about the resort.

Disadvantages:

Glass door in the bathroom. Who does that?

Super tour operators driving sales. If I wanted to book a tour I would have already done so. There were also people from the water sports company patrolling the boardwalk and hanging around the pool. Once you told them no, they usually left you alone.

You couldn't completely go offline because you need your app to order at restaurants. I would have paid extra for paper menus and left my phone in the room.

The beaches in the Dominican Republic are federally owned, so they are not private, as beach vendors go from resort to resort selling swimsuits, carvings, jewelry, etc. (You were very kind when you said no!)

Notable: In Aruba we were told not to leave anything on the balcony and porches as it would disappear overnight. This seemed to be a common theme at all resorts in Aruba, but we dried our bathing suits in the DR every night with no problem.

The Lobster House - by far my favourite. Located by the main pool and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I went there just once just to have some apps.

Chez Isabelle - The French restaurant where we last dined. By far the best themed restaurant in terms of space, decor and general atmosphere, with both indoor and outdoor seating.

Oregano - Great place for lunch, with the largest portions we've had on our entire trip. In the same structure as La Casa de la Langosta, separated by a plant wall. We had caprese salad and focaccia paninis.

Basmati - Indian food. I'm not a big fan of Indian food, but we enjoyed it. This one felt more like a strange empty movie set.

Spice - Pan-Asian food. If I were to do it again I would skip the hibachi show and just eat in the normal seating area. The hibachi was a set menu with sake to start, miso soup, noodle salad, and a main course of fried rice, vegetables, chicken, prawns, steak, and fish.

Sports Bar - you'll never guess what it's all about. Dining and drinks bar, with TVs showing all the games. It also has pool tables and this is where I learned that you are served in real glassware when a ball bounced off the table and knocked my drink onto the floor with it. oops.

Las Olas - Self-service dining by the pool and on the beach. You could go and make a plate and take it to the pool or eat there. Mainly burgers and pizza, with a variety of sides like pasta salad, mac and cheese, and nachos.

Flavor Market - just skip it and get room service.

The Kitchen Table - Large buffet. We only ate breakfast here, but enjoyed the wide variety of breads, juices, cold cuts, etc.

Room service: don't order the soup. Turns out they're not good for making soup when the temperature is a constant 80 degrees and you don't need it. We were pleasantly surprised by the pages of options (19 page menu!) and really enjoyed our breakfast on our poolside terrace.

We didn't make it to Agave (Mexican), The Grill (steakhouse) or the little food truck.

Overall we had a great time!

I would definitely recommend Excellence El Carmen to anyone looking to get away for a few days to a week. If you are considering a honeymoon at Excellence El Carmen, do it! (Especially if you plan to go the day after your wedding.) It is a great place to relax and unwind.

If you go for vacation or anniversary trip, I think if you don't exercise, play billiards and all activities every day, you will get bored if you stay more than one week. While we were there we did the fat tire bike tour, saw a couple of shows and also got a pedicure. The pedicure was a delight including a scalp massage + hair mask. Personally, I would skip the massages/spa; I think they are overpriced, especially when you probably have great massage options at home that can do ongoing body work for you. (I have a fabulous masseuse at the Mood House in Charlotte - contact me for recommendations.)

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or would like further clarification, please get in touch!

Happy Holidays!