(10/14/13) Since we moved here several years ago we started finding some of the best locations and best deals for resorts in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, we don’t get the opportunity to take advantage of all of them! This does though seem to be one of the more frequent requests of readers of this blog for me to start listing deals that I find. This works out well both to see what deals are currently running (that I know about) as well as patterns of when the resorts offer the best deals. So as I get notice of the resort vacation deals, I’m going to try to start listing them. In particular for one of our favorite all-inclusive resorts in Puerto Plata, the lifestyle resorts.

One of the reasons we like this resort so much, in addition to the great price, is that during the better priced deals there are usually quite a few of our friends there. We also meet people from all over the world including Bethal in New York and other branches.

The latest deal just came out today as a “One Day Only deal” of $29 per night per person. This deal is for both the Lifestyles Tropical and the Lifestyles Colfresi Resorts. Usually you need (more…)

So, you’re checking out the latest deals for lifestyle Resorts on Cheapcaribbean.com and you are torn between booking at Lifestyles Cofresi Palms Resort or Lifestyles Tropical Resort in Puerto Plata? This is a tough choice if you haven’t been there before, but likely you will enjoy either one. Here is a few tips on which one to chose for your dream vacation to the Dominican Republic.

Both are great all inclusive resorts, sitting right next to each other with access to the same section of beach and the same restaurants, so does it make a difference which motel you book at? Yes, each resort has its own feel, while you can cross from one to the other freely there are advantages to booking your vacation in one resort or the other.

VIP Beach Access

One advantage to the Lifestyle Tropical Resort is it is closer to the VIP beach. You can get to the beach in 5 minutes or less from any of the rooms, you have about a 10-15 minute walk from the Cofresi rooms. The VIP beach has several advantages over the other beaches. To take advantage of some of these advantages you will need to be one of the first people on the beach, the gate opens at 8:00am and the line usually starts at around (more…)

OK, this one seems pretty obvious. Avoid Food Poisoning. Definitely should be high on the list of things to avoid on any vacation including your exotic vacation to the Dominican Republic. But… the question “How to Avoid Food Poisoning?” can be a little harder. This is something even the most experienced traveler can fall victim to at times as can be seen by my most recent experience.

Food Poisoning at Lifestyles Resort

If you’ve read much of my blog here you have probably heard me mention Lifestyles Resort in Puerto Plata several times. This is kind of a favorite “cheap” vacation for (more…)

I was reading about a hot air balloon accident that happened a few days ago and it got me to thinking about the safety of many of the excursions and other tourist (and non-tourist) activities in the Dominican Republic. This particular incident was with a Hot air balloon company in Higuey called DomBall. Apparently they had a “rough” landing and had to come down in a sugar cane field. None of the 12 passengers were hurt and in the end “all is well”. But this got me to thinking of the many other potentially life threatening activities available here and the general regard for safety concerns I normally see here.

Let’s start with a joke. In this joke it was mentioned “I’m not saying I want to kill all stupid people, I’m just suggesting that you remove all the safety labels from common items (i.e. ‘CAREFUL the coffee in this cup is very hot!’) and let nature run its course.” This kind of illustrates what seems to be a general attitude in this country.

Let me give just a few examples of things I’ve seen

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If your looking to visit the Dominican Republic during this next year now is a good time to book at some of the all-inclusive resorts in Puerto Plato. There are two resorts offering deals right now both of the resort are going for $24 per night per person. For an all inclusive this is an excellent price. All-inclusive means that all food, drinks (including alcohol), tips, and the room is included at one price. This is one of the easiest ways to visit the Dominican Republic and helps to make sure that you can stay with in a budget without sacrificing what you want in a vacation.

Cofresi Palm Beach & Spa Resort

I haven’t stayed at the Confresi yet. This is a newly opened resort that has 180 ocean side rooms. There are different rooms available some with kitchenettes, a hot tub in the room, and other extra features. All rooms include a King or double beds, air conditioning, mini bars (stocking is included with the all-inclusive price), hair dryers, TV’s and YES, HOT Water. Pretty funny that that has to be listed, but you will find many of the smaller hotels don’t have hot water although that is pretty rare fore the larger resorts.

The normal price for this resort is $99 per person per night. (more…)

When considering the Dominican Republic, most people think beautiful tropical beaches, palm trees, luxury beach resorts and beautiful oceans views. While all of that is true there is another side to the Dominican Republic, The Mountains! Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking about the Alps here, but the 525 foot rise in elevation makes for a whole new experience, and the Jarabacoa River Club is a great place to experience it.

The Jarabacoa River Club sits on both sides of the “Rio Yaque del Norte”. The two sections of the club are adjoined by a rope bridge. Small and large swimming pools are scattered around on both sides of the river overlooking the valley and river below. Likewise there are patios, eating locations and clubhouses on both sides giving many unique vistas of the Valley.

Jarabacoa Excursions for Eco-Tourists

The Jarabacoa River Club makes for an excellent location to set out on the many excursions available in the Jarabacoa area.

• One of the favorites is the river rafting excursion on the Yaque River that winds down below the club. The price for the rafting excursions is usually about 1,400 pesos per person.
• Quads and mountain buggies (more…)

Those of us living in the interior parts of the DR can’t always get to a beach when we want to cool off on a hot summer day in the Caribbean. That’s where some of the pools come in handy. This week our group decided to visit the Casa Club pool in La Vega, Dominican Republic.

The Casa Club is actually a pretty big place with a large Multipurpose room that can fit about 2000 people, at least 2 glass walled areas sectioned off for smaller weddings and meetings and events, a smaller private bar area located below the main club area and even 15 Villas that can be rented in addition to the pool area.

For this trip we were just looking for the pool. The pool area was clean and well maintained There were bathrooms nearby and of course an “in-pool” bar where you can sit on the concrete “bar Stools” in the water and relax while having a drink. The bar appeared to open up at about 4pm. 4pm was also the time that things started to get far more active. When you check out the videos below you will see a marked difference between the first video which was pre-4pm and what the pool looks like rather soon after 4pm. If you are looking for a calmer relaxing time, you might want to call ahead and ask how packed the pool usually is on the day and time you plan on going.

The pool was well designed for families. There are three separate areas (all basically part of the same pool). The top section (more…)

The Miami Dolphins will be shooting their 2013 Cheerleader Swimsuit Calendar in Punta Cana this year. The photo shoot will be held from May 30 to June 5 at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort. In addition to the calendar pictures, scenes will be filmed and used for several television specials.

The calendar will be unveiled in August of this year (2012) at the annual Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders swimsuit fashion show in Miami and (more…)

Well, this was probably the deal of a lifetime. The Lifestyle Resort in Puerto Plato was running a promotional deal for stays between October to December of this year to their very plush All Inclusive Hotel. For $10 USD per person per night you would get their VIP package which included the room, all meals including al a cart meal at 5 different restaurants, 24 hour a day food ad one of the different locations in the resort and of course all drinks are included. At the VIP bar that means all of the imported alcohol also. All tips were even included, although if someone gave very good service it was nice if you can tip a little extra.

There was one catch though; you had to be from the United States, Europe, or Canada. The thing is they only wanted people from other countries to use the deal so they could promote their Resort as well as promote their time shares. While getting the tour of the resort (as well as the timeshare sales pitch) was optional, you had to refuse it several times during your stay. Not a big problem, the people asking were always nice, never a hard push.

While this deal closed, I have received several notices from cheapcaribbean.com that they are continuing to offer other great deal on their All Inclusive VIP package. They have extended the deal several times a t a little higher price of $20 USD per person per night. The “taxes” also went up so it turns into a total of $28 USD per person per night. Still this is an awesome deal. If you stay at a regular hotel and pay for your own food you will likely pay about $5-$7 for breakfast and lunch and $12 – $20 for comparable dinners. This deal includes all food, drinks, tips, and the room for the same price, making this bay far one of the cheapest ways to visit the Dominican Republic.
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