Dreams Punta Cana Resort, Dominican Republic

If you are traveling with a teen, you would probably know the tantrums and demands you would have to put up with during the holiday. Teens can become very stressful if they don’t have enough activities and facilities to keep them occupied. This tends to ruin the holiday for the entire family. Hence, more hotel chains and resorts around the world have started offering on site teen activities to keep the teenagers in a family, busy and happy.

You would have probably heard about the Dreams Resort Chain of hotels, and the efforts taken by the group to attract families with teens to their hotels. If you happen to be in Dominican Republic with your family, head straight out to the Dreams Punta Cana Resort and Spa to find out what we are talking about!

Officially opened at the end of 2007, the Dreams Punta Cana Resort and Spa is a luxury hotel that caters to the entire family. Situated in Playa Uvero, the resort sits on the north eastern shores of the country and faces the stunning Caribbean Sea.

Getting There: The resort is located about 90 minutes by road from the La Romana Airport. You can find plenty of cabs, taxis and shuttle buses that take you to the resort for a reasonable price. Alternatively, if you require transfers to and from the airport, you can call the resort in advance and book the transfers along with the accommodation.

Rooms: Have you ever seen all those commercials for one single product, where you get ultimately get so confused on which option to choose? Well, at the Dreams Punta Cana Resort and Spa, you might get into a similar situation.

The hotel has so much of everything that you would not know when and where to start choosing. The resort has a total of 620 superbly decorated rooms that offer spectacular views of the ocean, beach, hotel gardens and the on site pool area. There is a wide assortment of rooms to choose from. These include Deluxe Room, Deluxe Rooms with partial ocean view; deluxe family suites with connecting doors (popular with families who have teenagers), ground floor deluxe swim out rooms, honeymoon suites, junior suites and master suites with two bedrooms.

The standard amenities offered in the rooms include air conditioning, ceiling fans, IDD telephones, wireless internet access, satellite televisions with DVD/CD players, MP3 Docking systems, mini bars, alarm clocks, 24 hour room service, private balconies, complementary hammocks, and en suite bathrooms with showers, hairdryers, hydro massage tubs and complementary bath robes and slippers.

The resort also offers standard club rooms that have additional facilities like privatized check in and checkout, in room dining and concierge services in addition to free access to wireless internet service in the common areas and the private beach areas; and complementary newspapers and snacks.

The club rooms include the club deluxe rooms, club deluxe family suites with connecting doors; club honeymoon suites, club junior suites and club master two bedroom suites.

Cuisine: The Dreams Punta Cana Resort and Spa operates a total of 9 restaurants that are scattered across the resort in addition to 7 bars that are strategically positioned at select places on the resort grounds.

No reservations are required for the restaurants and guests are requested to dress modestly for dinners. However, there are no such restrictions during the day and it is possible to find guests frequenting the restaurants in their bathing suits and robes.

The Oceana Restaurant serves several sea food dinners and is located on the beach. Kids are not allowed in the Bordeaux Restaurant which offers traditional French delicacies in a formal setting. The Seaside Grill is located on the beach and serves a variety of grilled dishes like steaks and burgers.

Walk into La Trattoria Restaurant for a romantic Italian dinner or savor Mexican flavors and wines at the El Patio. The other restaurants in the resort include the Crepes and Co, World Café, Himitsu and Dreams Oceanfront Restaurants.

The bars offer tasty tidbits and a wide selection of local and international drinks to choose from. These include the Lobby Bar, Theater Bar, Pool Bar, Swim up Bar (poolside), Wellness Bar (spa bar), Sport Bar and the Cigar Piano Bar.

General Amenities: The resort has a huge on site pool that has a separate zero entry child zone. Various overhead bridges and palapas are located along the pool at regular intervals and you can stop by while lazily drifting around at places to enjoy several pool activities.

Kids have their own separate pool at the Explorers Mini Club. The pool is lined with sun loungers, parasols and Jacuzzis that are complementary.

The resort’s state of the art fitness center is air conditioned and has modernized weights, treadmills and stair climbers for active workout sessions. In addition to this, the resort offers yoga, aerobic, diving and tennis classes for guests.

The Dreams Punta Cana Spa offers traditional and internationally acclaimed massages and body treatments amidst palapas and small ponds filled with gold fishes. Even kids can get in on the fun and choose from a variety of treatments like manicures, massages, and hair braiding to name a few. The spa is located next to a hydrotherapy circuit which comprises of steam and sauna rooms, whirlpools and showers.

The resort operates a professionally run kids center called Explorer’s Club which caters to children aged 3 to 12 years. The club keeps kid busy with a myriad of activities and amenities including game rooms, movie shows, playgrounds and miniature climbing walls. Parents are given a beeper that can be used to call them in case the need arises.

The highlight of The Dreams Punta Cana Resort and Spa is its bustling teen center. Called the Core Zone, the center caters to kids aged 13 and above and keeps them so busy that they wont have time to complain.

Open from 9 in the morning, the teen center offers teens high-tech games, music shows, audio systems, games tables, basketball courts, climbing walls, batting cages, remote controlled race tracks, mechanical bulls, chess boards, archery ranges and much more. Snack and drink machines in the center offer refreshments. With all these things to do; and more teens to hang out with, your teenager is not going to step out of the Core Zone until you are ready to go back home.

Recreational Activities: The beach is a hubbub of activities and the on site dive shop and training center offers diving lessons in addition to organizing scuba diving and snorkeling excursions.

Horseback riding is a popular sport on the beach and the resort has tie ups with many horse rental agencies that frequent the beach from dawn to dusk and offer rides. Smaller pony rides are available for kids and pre teens.

The resort organizes regular nightly entertainment shows that include theater shows at the resort’s private theater, disco nights at the Desire’s Night Club, cocktail parties at the weekly Manger’s Cocktail Party and weekly games of roulette, blackjack and poker.