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Member since:11.07.2002
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I recently went on my first ever two-week holiday and it was amazing – I had the best time ever. I thought I would tell you about it and use the chance to show off my pictures!!
We booked a holiday at the Catalonia Bavaro Beach resort in the Dominican Republic, the booking was for 14 nights all inclusive at a 5 star hotel and cost a total of £2068.00 including taxes and insurance. Quite a steep price but the all inclusive deal covered all non motorised water sports, all drinks, all food and all entertainment – so worth in my books!
The holiday was booked online at the First Choice website (http://www.firstchoice.co.uk) and it couldn’t have been an easier booking to make, the online service is very good and you get a better idea of the hotel from the pictures on the website than you would a brochure.
So on November 4th we boarded a Britannia flight to Punta Cana – 8.5 hours in total and the flight was one of the few downfalls of the holiday. I travel a lot to see my mum and dad in France or the States and maybe I have just got too used to flying Virgin or BA
long haul but this made me feel like I was stuck on an Easy Jet flight for 8.5 hours. The TV screens are situated on the ceiling about every 8 rows and you end up with a horrible crick in your neck if you are sat in the wrong place. Headphones to watch anything cost £3.00 (something they don’t tell you until you board) and for a mini can of lemonade it cost £1.20.
But eventually the flight was over and we landed at Punta Cana airport in one piece! The second you step out of the plane and start to walk across the tarmac, you can feel the pace of life slowing down and you instantly get that ‘I’m on holiday – I don’t care about anything’ feeling. Once off the plane you go through customs – its important to note that if you haven’t got them already from the Dominican Embassy you have to buy your visa forms at the airport at a cost of $10.00 per person. We had brought ours from the embassy a few months back so were thankfully spared the queuing up and handing over $10 bills - we got through customs pretty quickly and made our way to the exit area.
When we left the airport we were directed to a waiting bus and are bags were quickly loaded onto a trailer…. We waited a while and then 6 more people joined us and that was it – we were on our way! We were told the transfer was 20 minutes but it was the longest journey ever!!! In England we drive on the left, In France they drive on the right – in the Dominican Republic they drive in the shade!!! Its terrifying but in a good rollercoaster kind of way! Its like being party of the Wacky Races and knowing you’re are in the car built by Dastardly and Mutley.
So a very swift bus journey later we arrived at the hotel and it took my breath away. A huge resort of its own that somehow blends in with the landscape that surrounds it – the central part of the hotel is constructed from wood and marble and it has no walls. At timber roof supported by marble pillars so you can eat and drink under cover but outside – genius.
We were given a brief outline of the hotel and everyone was handed an fruit punch (non-alcoholic) cocktail and a small bag with our room keys, safe key, TV remote, towel cards and restaurant cards in. We then identified our luggage and we were promised it would be brought up shortly so we started to take a walk down to our room. All the rooms are built in blocks of 24 rooms on 3 floors and all the rooms have a balcony or terrace – this is nice because it means you are not in a great towering hotel that is an eyesore but more like walking around a little village! There are 33 apartment blocks in total scattered through out the resort all of them painted the same white/pink colour to make them as neutral as possible.
Unless you are in a family room or honeymoon suite all the rooms are the same at the hotel. All rooms have a double bed (massive – bigger than an English king-size), seating area, mini bar (included in the all inclusive!), coffee making facilities, TV, bathroom (with a sunken – MASSIVE bath) and a separate toilet and shower area. It has everything you could need and all the balcony or terrace areas have a rocking chair and a hammock – nothing nicer than lazing your days away in a hammock!
The hotel has a total of 6 restaurants – 1 buffet that is open at normal meal times and 5 al la Carte restaurants that you have to book for, again all food is included in your price. There is a Tex Mex, Japanese, Italian, Parisian and a creperie – all the food is to a very high standard and brilliantly presented. When you book into the hotel you are given 2 cards for each of these restaurants for you to book at your leisure – we didn’t use all of the cards as it was a bit weird for us to think where we were going to each tomorrow night at 8am!! I can’t handle thinking when I am on holiday.
The next morning we woke up and started to explore – it will take you at least 2 or 3 days to get to know your way around the place. The hotel has the biggest pool I have ever seen and a private white sand beach covered in palm trees…. It is truly beautiful and I was stunned at the amount of colours around and the amount of wildlife. All the plants are bright red or vivid green and we saw herons, kingfishers, turtles and all kinds of fish in the lake alone!
The pool has its own pool bar with bar stools in the water! They also serve cold drinks from 10am to 7pm in and around the pool - after 7 you can always head to the main bar if you have the capacity to keep drinking!! Personally I had real trouble out there -I am not a big drinker and the free pouring of the local rum started to make the world spin after a while! If you ever go beware of a cocktail called a happy holiday – it will blow your socks off!! All the cocktails are also included in the price and there is a list of about 25 for you to choose from – the only problem is that there is no explanation of what is in each drink so the best bet is just to find a name you like and try it! This can be a messy experience but does promote a new game that fun for all the family (well – ones over 18 anyway!) – it’s a game called guess the ingredients!! Generally you can assume rum but occasionally tequila will hit you and then you’ll get a surprise ingredient that will make the world spin very very quickly. My top tip for combating this is to sleep with one foot on the floor as this slows the world right down.
There are many excursions available to go on - everything from touring the island to swimming with sharks - all priced between $60 and $120 per person. I can’t really comment on them as we decided not to do any of them (because of the cost) but from the people who did go they sounded like good fun.
In the actual resort there are many activities including snorkelling, wind surfing, catamarans, table tennis, local painting lessons, scuba diving, Spanish lessons, Salsa lessons, water volleyball, beach volley ball, foot ball and much much more. Most of this is also included in the main price although deposits are required for the boats and snorkelling gear.
You are generally not advised to leave the resort unless on an excursion but if you did wish to there is also a Dollar rent a car facility in the hotel.
You can also do shopping on site! It has its own shopping area where you can buy anything from painkillers to hand rolled cigars from sun tan lotion to tee shirts and jewellery. Twice per week the approved market traders come to the hotel and try to sell you hand made jewellery, paintings, wood carved sculptures and glass blowing. All of the produce is very well made and if you do decide to buy something, be prepared to haggle with them! You should get a good price that is generally just under half of what they first suggested.
All in all I cannot fault the hotel or its staff – the weather was shoddy for 3 days out of 14 but no one can control that!
If you are planning a proper treat yourself holiday then this is one for you.
Pictures of Catalonia Bavaro Beach (Dominican Republic)
part of the beach
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