Dominican Republic - Vacation

[rocket surgeon]

How's the drink selection at an AI?  Is it all rail booze, or can a fella (watch out for autocorrect on that word) get a Crown on the rocks or Hendricks in their G&T?  Thunderbird or Silver Oak Cabernet?

well, the bottles say "top shelf", but does one know what the hired hands are doing downstairs?  i'm sure if one is a connoisseur, and orders grey goose on the rocks, he'll know if it's the real deal or grandpa's cough syrup

[warriorchick]

How's the drink selection at an AI?  Is it all rail booze, or can a fella (watch out for autocorrect on that word) get a Crown on the rocks or Hendricks in their G&T?  Thunderbird or Silver Oak Cabernet?

Depends on the AI.  Some have premium liquor, but of course they are more expensive.

[drewm88]

they have 3 restaurants separate from the buffet dining room.  american, italian and mexican i think.  the italian one was the best.  nice variety on both the menu and the buffet.  you order your main course, and then hit the buffet for a nice variety of salads, artisan pizzas, cheeses, vegetables...that restaurant was really busy so make reserves early during your stay.  i don't remember eating at the mexican one.  the american was ok.  depending on your expectations, my wife hates buffets, but if they offer a nice variety, i like them for a change-larimar isn't bad.  their outdoor lunch buffets are actually pretty good.  make sure you check out the one just outside the private pool area-a little more authentic.

other than that, we golfed a lot and hung out at the pool/sea.  well, and then the wedding, which they did a really nice job.  we were there in october and it was hot and humid.  june?  probably hotter and more humid is my guess

we didn't do any excursions or anything-sorry. 

on the last day, an hour before we were to catch the bus back to the hotel, we got locked out of our room. our keys, the maids keys, the janitors keys did not work.  fortunately we had our bags packed and ready to go.  locksmith took 30 minutes to come, then another 15-20 minutes to get us in...needless to say, we had to run to catch our bus to airport-pissed me off-other people said the same happened to them but not at last minute.  not the best way to say goodbye.  don't know what the problem was-didn't have time to chat

all in all, if not for the wedding, golf, scenery and weather, i might have been more disappointed. the grounds were beautiful

oh-one last thing-do not leave anything valuable on your beach chairs.  even if you think you are covering it up with towels-the towel boys watch, will come by and act like they are picking up dirty unused towels, grab the whole pile, throw it in their bin and move on.  they took my nieces kindle and we caught him trying to muscle some other misc. stuff.  they just deny, act stupid and move on. when you complain, they act like they are looking in to it...  i'd love to see their laundry room - hope that wasn't a buzz kill-can happen on any vacation-just a heads up-

Appreciate the insights. We're also headed there for a wedding so glad to hear they do those well.

[real chili 83]

Lots of good advice.  Focusing on Punta Cana. In the running:

Iberostar
La Romano
Larimar
Riu
Best Western Fridley

[keefe]

Glow and I were there 25 years ago.  They had a nude side and a prude side back then.

Did you guys ever wander over to the prude side? You know, just to see how awful it was?

[warriorchick]

Did you guys ever wander over to the prude side? You know, just to see how awful it was?

Again, the basic nude beach rule applied.  Most of the participants were folks you would wish would put their clothes back on.

[🏀]

How's the drink selection at an AI?  Is it all rail booze, or can a fella (watch out for autocorrect on that word) get a Crown on the rocks or Hendricks in their G&T?  Thunderbird or Silver Oak Cabernet?

All of the high end AIs have high end booze. If you want to make sure it's legit, order a bottle for your room. It'll come sealed.

[🏀]

Lots of good advice.  Focusing on Punta Cana. In the running:

Iberostar
La Romano
Larimar
Riu
Best Western Fridley

I have not been to the Punta Canta location, but Excellence Resorts have lived up to their name in my opinion.

http://www.excellenceresorts.com/resorts/excellence-punta-cana/destination/

I've been to the Mujeres and Cancun, awesome. If you got the coin, go with the Excellence option. I've always got a rooftop pool option as well.

[real chili 83]

I have not been to the Punta Canta location, but Excellence Resorts have lived up to their name in my opinion.

http://www.excellenceresorts.com/resorts/excellence-punta-cana/destination/

I've been to the Mujeres and Cancun, awesome. If you got the coin, go with the Excellence option. I've always got a rooftop pool option as well.

I've heard great things about Excellence too.

The best deal we found is the Dreams La Romano in Punta Cana.  Direct flight, six nights/7 days for $3500.

[Coleman]

How's the drink selection at an AI?  Is it all rail booze, or can a fella (watch out for autocorrect on that word) get a Crown on the rocks or Hendricks in their G&T?  Thunderbird or Silver Oak Cabernet?

I can't stress this enough but if you are considering RIU make sure it is a RIU Palace. The drinks at the normal RIU are garbage. Like, stuff you have never heard of. RIU Palace alcohol is not "top shelf" but it is respectable. At the Riu Palace we went to they had:

Johnny Walker Red Label and J&B Scotch
Tanqueray Gin
Stolichnaya and Smirnoff Vodka
Jim Beam Bourbon
Jose Cuervo and Patron Tequila
Local Costa Rican rum (good stuff)

They stock your room everyday with 4 bottles of booze and 4 or 5 beers. The stuff they put in your room isn't as good as the stuff at the bars (I think the vodka in the room was Smirnoff and the scotch was J&B, tequila was Jose Cuervo), but it is still name brand stuff. If you want the better stuff, like Patron, Stoli or Johnny Walker, you gotta go to one of the 5 bars on the resort.

And they had the local Costa Rican beer, Imperial, with some decent Chilean wines available as well. The bars made excellent tropical mixed drinks, mojitos, margaritas, daquiris, rum punch, etc.

So no, not top shelf liquor. You aren't going to get an 18 year single malt scotch, but for all-inclusive at $133 per person per day, I thought it was a good deal.

[real chili 83]

With the deal we got at La Romana, it's top shelf. 

[Benny B]

Benny's Golden Rule for Vacationing in the Caribbean or Central America:
If you're an easy mark, stay at an all-inclusive and don't leave the resort unless a) it's a pre-arranged tour by a reputable American travel agency, b) it's on the bus that's taking you to the airport, or c) you have a solid K&R policy (and are up to date on your premiums).

Benny's Silver Rule for Vacationing Anywhere:
People who recognize that they're easy marks are exponentially less likely to get into trouble than those people who aren't sure if they're an easy mark.

[keefe]

Again, the basic nude beach rule applied.  Most of the participants were folks you would wish would put their clothes back on.

I remember that the nude baech in Bali asked me to leave because I was leaving a deep furrow in the sand whenever I walked down the beach...

[warriorchick]

I remember that the nude baech in Bali asked me to leave because I was leaving a deep furrow in the sand whenever I walked down the beach...

Yeah, I hear that happens with your ballsack when you get old....

[keefe]

Yeah, I hear that happens with your ballsack when you get old....

If only. No, there is a reason I was known in Bali as Plowshare...

The problem is that too many people were falling into that deep furrow

[keefe]

Johnny Walker Red Label and J&B Scotch

Blended. No thank you.

[Benny B]

I remember that the nude baech in Bali asked me to leave because I was leaving a deep furrow in the sand whenever I walked down the beach...

Yeah, I hear that happens with your ballsack when you get old....