Paradisus Palma Real Rating: 4.0 Pearls

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Guests in the resort's club

Though it might look good in photos, this resort has the soul of an all-inclusive mega-resort. Take, for instance, the second-floor marble lobby. Decorated in muted tones and offering gorgeous views of the turquoise sea, the lobby definitely looks nice, but the elevator muzak, crowds, and gushing of a nearby fountain create a somewhat hectic atmosphere. Likewise, the courtyard gardens have beautiful flowers, a gurgling brook, a precious little bridge, and even live flamingos, but there are also plastic rocks with built-in speakers playing Michael Bolton and late-era Madonna.

The luxurious rooms, high-quality restaurants, and endless amenities all make the Paradisus one of the best all-inclusives in Punta Cana, but it’s still an all-inclusive, which means buffet dining and lip-synched Michael Jackson performances nightly.

Though guests primarily hail from Canada, the Paradisus draws mature guests from all over the world, along with young families. It’s not really a resort for partiers (certainly not spring breakers on a budget), but it's definitely large enough to appeal to a wide range of people.

Chefs double as entertainers

The front desk staff is pretty limited here, with only two clerks at any given time to handle a resort with 554 rooms. This means significant lines for both check-in and check-out -- it took a full 25 minutes to just hand in my key and settle a small incidentals bill. Between the luggage tags, the check-out slips, and front desk paperwork fumbles, the whole process here feels far more hectic than at similarly priced luxury resorts like Casa Colonial or Casa de Campo.

Unlike many resorts, guests are assigned a "travel concierge” at check-in (I was assigned Wanda). These personal concierges are responsible for explaining the resort's various features on the map and taking any dinner reservation requests. This is a welcome improvement from most all-inclusive resorts, which require guests to queue up first thing in the morning for that evening’s dinner reservations. (Alternatively, some of the pricier resorts have a no-reservations policy, but this means that guests sometimes have to wait several hours for a table each night). Wanda also tried to talk me into attending an information session about the Sol Melia hotel company and its travel club (re: time-shares), and pushed even when I declined (after a while she relented).

The guests I spoke with were uniformly pleased with the level of service, noting room upgrades and successful dinner reservations at all of the à la carte restaurants. One of the advantages to the a major resort chain is that they’re making customer service a science, and the Paradisus uses a sophisticated data survey system to track and monitor prominent complaints and issues.

The resort also touts its two specialized service programs, Royal Service and Family Concierge. Each essentially amounts to personal butlers, access to private pools, and preference in dinner reservations. The additional cost varies, but it typically ranges between $50-60 extra per day. But across the board, most guests feel the upgrade is a waste of money.

View on a Larger Map

There are more amenities available close by to Paradisus Palma Real than perhaps any other all-inclusive in Punta Cana. It anchors the Palma Real complex, a sprawling gated property that includes the Melia Caribe Tropical Resort, Cocotal Golf Course and Country Club, golf condos, and the brand-new Palma Real Shopping Village, which features American mall-style shopping and restaurants (A Puma store! Geox! Tony Roma’s!).

The beach

On the bright side, the waves are extremely small and gentle, and the beach sand is impressively clean and sugary. Yet the water is far murkier than the beaches I encountered at nearby Barcelo Punta Cana and Riu Palace Punta Cana. I eventually had to get out -- I couldn’t stand the little grass tendrils grazing my leg, particularly since the water wasn't clear enough to see them.

Unlike most resorts, I had an easy time finding a set of chairs under an umbrella. Even at high noon the beach never struck me as overcrowded, a rare commodity in these parts.

The One Bedroom Garden Suite

Rooms are tastefully decorated in beige and orange tones, with taupe marble floors and walls, and dark wood accents. There’s a large combined dresser/desk that also includes a stereo and the mini-bar filled to the brim with cans of Pepsi, 7-Up, Presidente beer, Presidente Light, and water (all the contents are free). The counter also contains bottles of liquor (Absolut vodka and Barcelo dark rum), but to save costs, they don’t replace these bottles after each guest (meaning ours were half-full).

There is also a separate seating area near the ground-floor balcony that includes a small table with two chairs, a silk loveseat that smelled a little musty, and a nice wood coffee table. Surrounded by lush landscaping, the garden view rooms have a nice view of the Monet-esque gardens. From my room, I even had a front row seat for a sunset wedding ceremony that took place by the gazebo and a small bridge.

All rooms have a snazzy Philips flat-screen TV that receives a ton of channels, including the N.Y.C. network affiliates, HBO, Showtime, ESPN and BBC America, and a plug-in Internet connection that costs $10/24 hours and requires an access code and wire obtained from the front desk.

On face, the bathrooms are excellent -- there’s a Jacuzzi, a multi-head shower, a separate toilet stall, and a large marble sink. Unfortunately, there are only wooden louvered slats separating the bathroom from the bedroom, and the toilet area is sealed off only by a stall door. An unfortunate design flaw, because if there’s so much marble, even the tiniest noises in the bathroom echoed throughout the rest of the suite. Prepare to reach a new level of intimacy with your partner. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of reviewers on TripAdvisor complain about this issue. Fortunately, in the one-bedroom suites the sound doesn’t carry the same weight, and the rooms at the newer Reserve section of the resort seem to have corrected this flaw.

The walls are also fairly thin between rooms, and particularly between terraces. I heard one neighbor showering, and another calling home to let her family know that she'd arrived safely (she LOVED the hotel, by the way). The only other problem I had with the room was that the electricity seemed to turn on and off a lot during the day. It never happened for more than a couple minutes at a time, but it is certainly an annoyance if you're watching TV or drying your hair. This happened to me at a number of Dominican hotels, though, so it's hard to hold against Paradisus Palma Real in particular.

The resort has ATVs for guests use

At nearly 38,000 square-feet, the main pool is the “largest beachfront free-form” pool in the D.R. With a swim-up bar, built-in loungers, and ample poolside palapa umbrellas for shade, the main pool is the hub of activity during the day. Poolside guests can even swap stories with a Spanish-speaking parrot or a spider monkey named Mario. Still, the pool is actually relaxing (hard to come by in all-inclusives). The resort technically has four pools, but the other three are only available to guests who sign-up for the Family Concierge or Royal Service upgrades (both of which are hardly worth it).

Horseback riding excursions are free for guests, who have the option of a either a morning or an afternoon trip. All you have to do is sign-up with the activities desk a day in advance, meet in the lobby, board a truck that looks like those driven by African militia, drive for 25 minutes along a major highway, barrel down a dirt road for another 20 minutes to a rustic farm with chickens, dogs, and dune buggies, and then you’re ready to ride. It’s just that easy!

Within minutes, I was assigned a horse -- no one asked about my previous riding experience, nor did the guide seem to speak much English. The horses were very clearly on auto-pilot -- even the former horse breeder in the group couldn't get her horse to gallop -- but the ride itself along a very secluded beach was pleasant, ignoring all the trash and broken glass strewn along the path (this was particularly upsetting since the horses weren't shoed). I was just thankful to finally get onto the soft sand of the beach and into the water, of course pausing for the requisite photo op.

At the YHI spa, adjacent to the main swimming pool and the gym, visitors can enjoy a range of treatments from massage to manicures to body scrubs. They all include free use of the “water ritual center” (essentially, the spa’s outdoor Jacuzzi room) that looks onto the main pool and the drunken guests doggie-paddling to the swim-up bar for another drink.

I tried out the spa pedicure ($70), which included a eucalyptus soak and a sea salt scrub, as well as the chocolate body scrub treatment ($55). Afterward, I headed downstairs, where new age music competed with amped-up dance tunes coming from the poolside cabanas. But it didn’t matter, because I had three very clean and well-maintained Jacuzzis, one cold water dunk, a sauna, and a steam room completely to myself.

The gym is large and has a wide variety of modern equipment (not to mention great views of the pool and ocean). It also offers popular spinning classes every morning.

Also on site is the newly opened upscale mall, the Palma Real Shopping Village. The resort offers complimentary golf cart rides to and from the mall around the clock; I was even able to call up a ride at 1 a.m. after crashing one of the mall’s two discos, Webster Hall (a sister property to the club and concert venue in New York). The mall also includes restaurants like the Hard Rock Café and ubiquitous American ribs chain Tony Roma's, so guests yearning to escape resort food have plenty of viable options. There's even a movie theater on site. For a complete directory, check out its Web site.

The resort is adjacent to the nearby Cocotal Golf and Country Club, designed by Spanish golfer, Jose Gancedo. The course is in great condition, but it doesn't front the ocean.

An evening performance

Guests are a bit mellower here than at most all-inclusives, and the entertainment activities reflect the demographic. There’s no pool Olympics, nor are there beer drinking contests to a thumping techno soundtrack. Instead, there’s wine tasting, towel art folding, and candle making.

The evening shows take place outside in the courtyard, though there’s also an indoor performance space. Like most resorts, the entertainment includes things like "Dominican night" (dances performed by the activities staff) and the ubiquitous "Michael Jackson night", performed by a specialty troupe of break-dancers who travel around to different area resorts. Featuring two Michael Jacksons (one tall, one short), the lip-synched performances are heavy on dance and include all his top songs, culminating in a version of "Heal the World," in which dancers parade around with international flags. It’s a little cheesy, but fun.

Each night after the show a live Latin band performs for about an hour so couples and families can dance. Staff members also change into dressier outfits to mingle and encourage everyone to get out onto the open-air dance floor.

Kids activities

The Family Concierge program ensures that families have spacious rooms with pull-out couches, provides a hassle-free family check-in, gives parents and kids walkie-talkies to stay in touch, and grants kids access to special beaches and pools. Special in-room amenities include kids’ bathrobes and slippers, and milk-and-cookies turndown service. There are also special family bonding-style sailing excursions, swimming lessons, and horseback-riding trips. Of course, nannies and camp counselors are also available to take the kids off Mom and Dad’s hands.

Opened in December 2008 in the Family Concierge headquarters, The Reserve offers tasteful, modern apartment-style suites, newly manicured grounds, and higher-class cuisine, all geared toward families. I was impressed with the multi-room units, each of which included chic and comfortable furnishings, a Jacuzzi in the bathroom and on every balcony, a kitchenette, and a direct entrance to the pool from every building.

The Reserve’s kids' club would make even the most staid adult inclined toward a bit of regression. When I visited I found happy kids lounging on comfy beanbag chairs and watching cartoons. In another room, 3- to 5-year-olds played with giant balls, blocks, and other toys while an attentive staff member participated in the fun. In the kitchen, I was impressed with the healthy snacks that included fruit-flavored yogurt and crudite in teacups, perfect for little fingers.

I took a peek in the babies’ room, which was kept at a perfect cooling temperature and well ventilated. There was a welcoming row of baby-ready wooden cribs and one infant slept soundly in the corner.

This section of the resort serves a buffet breakfast; restaurants include Gabi Club, Continental cuisine and Aqua, which has Mediterranean specialties.

The new facility also includes a fully equipped gym and a spa so pretty and serene, I didn’t want to leave.

The moden, plush rooms, lush, landscaped grounds, and top-notch features here are all in perfect condition.

Seafood at Bana restaurant

The main buffet restaurant, Naos, is pretty average with typical pasta, grill, and sandwich stations. The salad bar was underwhelming, and I had a hard time finding meats that looked both cooked and appetizing. Again it's no worse than any other Dominican buffet, but considering how good the à la carte restaurants are, I would have expected more personalized options. There is also a beachside lunch grill and a Mexican buffet at dinner.

The resort also has four à la carte restaurants (Asian, "romantic," Mediterranean, and "contemporary fusion"). Unlike most resorts, the concierge arranges dinner reservations for each guest upon arrival, meaning that guests never have to rise at the crack of dawn and wait in line for a reservation.

Bana, the Asian fusion restaurant, features seats that surround a hibachi grill and a table chef that entertains to the level of some of Benihana's best. According to the guests I spoke to, Bana and Passions (the "romantic" restaurant) have the best food in the resort. I enjoyed my fried rice and fresh-cooked chicken, shrimp, and beef. The restaurant décor is fairly classy; certainly at a much higher standard than the typical anonymous à la carte.

The Mediterranean restaurant, Vento, is also among the resort’s most popular restaurants. The pasta and salad I had were good, but nothing mind-blowing.

The "continental fusion" restaurant Gabi Beach is included for guests with royal service, but I would have had to pay extra to dine there. Surrounded by gauzy white curtains and touting its motto ("Beat. Drink. Groove." -- whatever that means) the oceanfront space very clearly yearns to be South Beach. The fairly standard menu of meat and seafood is good, but no better than at the included restaurants, so it definitely isn't worth the extra cash.

The resort also offers 24-hour room service. The menu isn't terribly extensive, but pizza at 2 a.m. satisfied my late-night cravings pretty well. My order arrived in about 30 minutes, and was delivered with a big smile.

A guest gets a round at the pool bar

Among the name brands available are Johnnie Walker Red, Dewar’s, multiple flavors of Absolut, Cutty Sark scotch, Jack Daniels, Remy Martin, Hennessy, Kahlua, Malibu, Frangelico, and of course, Brugal Rum (the D.R.’s national rum). At dinner, I even received a free bottle of Chilean cabernet sauvignon -- it wasn't swill, which is actually saying a lot for a D.R. all-inclusive.

The resort is filled with bars at every turn -- eight in total -- but my favorite is the lobby bar, which features a grand piano and chaise loungers that allow guests to recline.