Majestic Elegance

As I sit on my Couch right now with snowflakes falling,

I am wanting to go somewhere warm.

The one place warm that I can't get out of my mind is Punta Cana.

That's right the Dominican Republic.

Where the top half of the country has the Atlantic Ocean the other half Caribbean Sea.

Clear blue waters, white sand beaches, strong drinks, and sun.

When we went to the Dominican Republic we stayed at the Majestic Elegance.

This was an all inclusive resort and couldn't have picked a better place to go.

We decided to go before all of the spring breakers would be there and chose the side that was for adults only, the Elegance Club.

This meant that we had a few more perks than some would.

I don't get paid to do the reviews.

 Remember that when reading this.

I do travel a lot, but everything comes out of my pocket.

This is all honest and real.

All of the pictures are mine unless stated otherwise.

The hotel had some really great points and some that were off, but what all inclusive would it be if they had it all going for them?

Overall, the trip was a wonderful time and on days like today, I wish my feet were in the sand and I had a drink in my had.

Now the good goods of what we thought overall of our trip to the Majestic Elegance.

The trip was for a full week.

That's right a FULL week with our butts in the sand and not having to pay for anything.

We had planned the trip months in advance to make sure that we would have enough time to get packed and ready to go.

My husband was coming home from Afghanistan and we wanted to have a little bit of time for him to adjust before we went to another foreign country.

Our flight was at 8 am and we needed to get to the airport two hours prior to that.

We stayed the night at a hotel close by, took the shuttle over to the airport, and left our car at the hotel.

The flight from Ohio to the DR was only four hours.

Enough time to get some sleep and then hit the ground running.

When you arrive to Punta Cana the airport is open air.

Meaning you land outside and you walk to a building that has very few walls.

Getting that fresh air in a place that was hot, made a difference.

You have to go through to where they check your passport and you pay your fee.

Yes, you read that correctly.

There is a $10 entrance fee, this is good for 30 days and is used instead of a visa.

There is also a $20 departure tax that you will see when you book your air.

After getting away from that mess, you will then enter another one.

The line to get to your bus, taxi, or shuttle.

We took a shuttle, not bad but they have to wait for everyone and then you drop people off at each hotel before you get to yours.

The ride wasn't bad since you could see other hotels on the way and was around 30 minutes.

When we got to the hotel there was no one at the desk and didn't really know what to do.

After quickly seeing another office tucked into the corner, that had a small sign that said,

"Elegance Club"

 Since we arrived around noon, they couldn't check us in fully.

They did take our luggage and gave us our bracelet to wear for the length of the stay.

There are free drinks, snacks, and air conditioning in the room (first perks of the trip)

Not only do they have that while you wait, they have paperwork for you to sign.

Signing all of the paperwork, getting our bracelets, and them taking our luggage saved us.

Starving they told us to come back at 3 and we could meet with our butler and proceed to our rooms.

Lunch was eaten at the buffet style restaurant and then relax in the lobby bar.

We weren't sitting in the bar more than a few minutes and we already had drinks in our hands!

Right at 3 we were able to meet our butler, Ruddy.

Let me tell you about Ruddy.

Everyone loved him.

He was fun, loud, serious, would do anything for you, and made life there easier.

He told us everything that we needed to know about the hotel, where to eat, when to eat, how to get around, the "perks" of being Elegance Club Members, made reservations for us, got our hot tub ready for us, put out rose petals, lit candles in the room, gave us cakes, and made sure our fridge was stocked daily with what we wanted.

Our room was, like I have said, on the Elegance Club side.  The room was on the top floor with an ocean view.

When you walk out of the room.

The picture on the right is from the balcony.  I need to tell you right now the view from the room will have their new hotel close by.  You will still get all of the trees, but there will be a pool now there too.

Room was large, double sinks, balcony with table and chairs, Jacuzzi, king size bed, TV, shower, and toilet.

While everything was beautiful in the room there were a few things that we didn't like, but were able to adjust and get over there quickly.

(Excuse the mess we were leaving when I took the pictures)

First of all, if you do go there, make sure that you are comfortable with the person in the room.

Let's get a little personal here.

The toilet was separated by a very thin piece of glass and had a gap not only at the top, but at the bottom as well.

This means you can hear and "smell" everything that happens.

If you go to a foreign place, make sure you take meds with you for those occations since you do not know what will mess you up.

There are a few things that you can do to help this situation, turn up the TV, go outside, or bring some Poop Pourri with you.

If you don't know what I am talking about, go here.

The Second thing, was the TV.  Being a prominent Spanish speaking area, that is what the TV is.

Nothing that is a deal breaker, but the news didn't really put us to sleep like a normal tv show would.

Moving on from all of the bathroom talk.

There was an abundance of liquor in the room, four different types.

Not only did they have that there was also champagne, beer, water, and pop.

Room service would bring snacks during the day when they cleaned the room.

While the snacks during the day were great, there were some nights that we wanted room service and more than once we tried to call them, with no answer.

The night that we did get them to answer they were rude and the sandwich and the toppings for it were non-existent.

I have had others go to this location and say they had zero issues with room service, so do not let that little hiccup deter you from enjoying this location.

Since I am on the topic of food, the resort had quiet a few restaurants.

The food in most of the places were really good, but the staff depending on location, were rude.

Flavours was were we ate more of the mornings since they had the best verity.

Not only did they have the best verity, there was no dress code, unlike the specialty restaurants.

They also had different themes for certain nights.

As also, I do have to give a shout out to one person in general that works there.

Carlos, he always had a smile on his face and out of all of the people that came in and out of that place, he always knew what we wanted to drink when we sat down.

It takes a certain type of person to remember who people are and he did it with ease.

This was taken by Mike Thompson

See &Sea...I can't say enough about this place.

Not that the food was exceptional, but the fact it was on the beach made it very easy to grab food and get back to our Bali bed and relax.

During lunch it was a no dress code other than you have to be covered and have shoes on; but the grill stations and the pizza bar are a must.

Dinner, dress nice and they have a huge menu.

The favorite between us was the grilled lobster.

Grilled lobster has a different taste than boiling or baking, almost smoky/sweet taste.

9 Doors is a hibachi grill where they cook the food in front of you.

  I have to say, it was my favorite meal while there and you have to make a reservation.

Warnng:

If you do go here to eat, it is interactive.

They throw food at you to catch with your mouth.

You must clap....a lot.

The cook makes rice, beef, chicken, and shrimp.

If you don't like one of those things, tell them, they will take care of it for you.

Asadito Steak House was a special place.

There were two other people that went on this trip with us.

One of which was turning the big 5-0.

We got with our butler earlier in the day and told him that we would like reservations at this place for this time and we wanted to know if we could get a cake.

Sure enough it all worked out after we all ate there was the cake and a crowd singing Happy Birthday to him.

The cake was excellent, but the steaks were like jerky even when rare.

Put some steak sauce on it and just deal with it.

It is included in the bill so I didn't say anything, but I feel that the grill in the back is too hot.

However, over at Limited Gourmand, the French restaurant, the steak was perfectly cooked.

The wait staff was very nice and willing to get whatever you wanted.

I am known for taking a long time in figuring out what I want to eat and the waiter would laugh as I would shake my head and say just a little more time.

By the end of it everyone else had ordered and the waiter told me that the steak or fish were the best.

I asked for a few different things and there was no issue and the waiter went out of his way to get a lot of it for me.

If going here I would suggest the Red Snapper or the Steak.

There is a dress code here and you need a reservation, but make it a nice evening and get really dressed up for it.

Now, if you have made it this far with all of my talking of food, I am proud of you.

If you are reading this from the hotel, I want to say that I left the bad for last.

II Botaccio...the Italian restaurant.

This location does not have many positives in my book.

Many feel this way when talking to the other guests in the hotel as well.

The waiters were rude and looked down on you.

We ordered more than one thing and they looked annoyed.

Lights were no existent, you couldn't see what you were ordering, and not everything was included.

Meaning that going to an all inclusive restaurant you shouldn't pay, but if you get wine you will pay for the whole bottle, not just a glass.

Everything was too expensive and we felt overpriced.

Food was very disappointing too.

For starters everyone ordered differently and we all agreed eggplant was the best thing.

This was the only thing that was decent for starters.

The ravioli was the best thing for the actual meal, but nothing that couldn't be bought at a store and heated up.

As for dessert, they messed everything up and then didn't have some stuff.

Everyone got tiramisu and it was pretty good.

This is my honest thoughts and if you have been here, let me know in the comments what your thoughts were.

Everyday we drank.  I mean why wouldn't you take advantage of the bars when you don't pay for it.

I started the first three days of this trip not drinking anything but water and juice; I had a kidney stone.

After talking to the bartender he simply told me drink all the alcohol and it will flush it out.

SO...I did.

The favorite drinks of the trip, The Majestic, Miami Vice, Mojito, Amaretto Sour, the Dirty Monkey, and the Long Beach.

The first lobby bar made the absolute best drinks.

Not too strong, but you could still tell there was something there.

The Majestic and the Miami Vice ca make you sick if you have too many of them and they will try to cut you off at three for this reason.

(Listen to them...remember the bathroom talk)

Since we were part of the Elegance Club we had Maxima and Felix most of the time and both of them were OUTSTANDING!!

Maxima always had a smile and was asking if we were happy happy!

(This is the thing on the resort...happy happy.)

If you would hold out your empty cup, there she was filling it back up with whatever you wanted.

The Long Beach was VERY strong. Only two of those and they would knock you on your butt, you can ask the gentleman we were traveling with.

At the poolside bar where Felix made the drinks, he made them stronger if you put a few dollars in the cup he had for tips.  I would recommend that you bring your own cup with you so you don't have to go to the bar too often. The cups they use are about the size of a drink cup you get at a graduation party.  If you bring a big bubba cup they will fill it up without blinking an eye.

Cup that we brought and the hut is the bar.

Speaking about being poolside, there were many beds and chairs, and you would think that finding a place to sit would be easy to do.

Reading about this for months before we left made us think we were going to have to sit our butts in the sand, literally.

That was not the case.

We did find that our first day there people would get up early and set towels out on the seats or beds.

Get up early if you want a bed by the pool, those go the fastest. Put a towel, shirt, or something there so people know that it is taken.

Photo taken by Mike Thompson

As for the towel situation here is a tip.

Bring your own...nah just kidding, but at the same time I'm not.

There is a system that they have set up there.  When you check in the desk will give you "towel cards" to use. You take that to the pool with you, give the person your card and you get a towel. By 5 when the pool closes you give the towel back and you get the card back.

We had no problem getting a towel any of the days that we were there and we did bring our own to use on the beach.  The only time the person was not at the pool doing this was when they ran out and had to get more.

The Elegance Club pool was amazing.  You could swim with not running into anyone and the people there that were guests were very nice.

The only draw back was that the pools do close by 5 pm or when the pool was under shadow.

This is for the safety of everyone and when they clean.

We had no problem and most of the time you were hungry by that time.

These will be my last words about this hotel. and my tips on what to bring and do:

Many people come here to get married, so be respectful have those areas.

You can tell where a wedding will be happening when the chairs are all pushed aside.

The hotel puts on a great dinner on the beach with all you can eat, just like the rest of it.

Tips are not expected, but appreciated. (Cleaning, butler, bar)

The best thing that we found and didn't expect was the cleaning crew would leave us flowers and check in on us when we saw them out.

You get to know these people and they start to know you.

If you are celebrating something, let them know.

The hotel prides itself on "special occasions."

There will be people trying to sell you things out on the beach, but if you give them a price that you want to pay and don't let them ask for too much. If you don't want anything just say no and they will move on.

Go to the shows at the hotel.  If you see something that looks good check it out.

There is always music and activities that you can partake in.

Get your pictures taken with the parrots.

Get your pictures taken on the beach, for them to take pictures it's free, to buy them, well it is worth it.

I normally wouldn't show these, but we look good.

Make sure when you pack to double and triple check you have everything with you, and don't forget the aloe and sunscreen.  Everything like that is overpriced and will cost you an arm and a leg to buy.

Bring 1's, 5's, and 10's with you for tipping (again.)

Splurge for the Elegance Club.  You won't be upset that you spent the extra for it.

Learn some basic Spanish, it does make a difference if you try.  They will teach you some if you are willing to learn.  Just myself I know basic Spanish, French, Japaneses, and German. If they see you trying they are more likely to help you than shrug you off.

Go off of the resort. Take a few excursions if you have time. See the island.

Remember to call your credit card company and bank to let them know you will be using your cards. Many people forget to do this and it causes problems.

Get up early to see a sunrise. Not only are they stunning, but you will see the men getting coconuts down from the trees too.

If you would like to book a trip to this overall, wonderful place, (or I wouldn't be doing a review of it) just click on Majestic Elegance and it will take you right to their website!

Remember this is an Adult only resort.  Their sister resort Majestic Colonial you can bring the kids. If you want to spice things up in your life you can go to the newly built, and newly opened Majestic Mirage.

The link will take you to all three locations.