Sivory Punta Cana Rating: 4.5 Pearls

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The hotel grounds

At Sivory, everything is designed to promote relaxation -- from the comfortable rooms to the spa to the reflecting pool attached to the lobby. When I checked in, a lounge version of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" was playing softly and I was handed a chilled glass of champagne and a cool towel.

But to get to Sivory, you have take a $80 taxi from the airport, and after driving for an hour, you end the journey by bouncing along a dirt road for another 20 minutes before you arrive at the modest hotel entrance. Given how nauseating this is, the $500 helicopter ride directly to the resort might actually be worth it.

Staff at the Gourmond Restaurant

Sivory offers some of the best overall service in the Dominican Republic, rivaled only by Tortuga Bay or Caso De Campo.

Guests are greeted with a champagne flute and a cool, vanilla-scented towel on a silver platter. Management walks each guest to his or her room, pointing out features of first the hotel and then the room. Staff members seem to know every guest by both name and room number, and managers go out of their way to honor special requests.

Daily "open eyes" and turndown service is included. Unique to Sivory, "open eyes" is essentially just a continental breakfast delivered to your door at the time you request -- a great way to ease into the day.

The concierge and front desk staff are available 24 hours a day.

View on a Larger Map

Sivory is located on the northernmost edge of Punta Cana. Though the Sivory's website claims the hotel is only an hour from the airport, the actual ride takes about 80 minutes. The most grueling part of this journey is the last 10 or 20 minutes on a bumpy dirt road. Sivory can arrange ground transportation to and from the airport for $145 per couple each way. They can also arrange helicopter transport for $525 per couple each way.

The beach

In the winter, the wind picks up and drives the waves in, making the water far less clear and also creating a fairly dangerous crosscurrent. Winds are calmer in the summer, spring, and fall. The sand doesn't have big chunks of coral, but it's not the soft powder you'll find in more southern parts of Punta Cana. To put this in perspective: No one was on the beach during my stay.

There are plenty of chaise longues and palapa umbrellas on the beach, though. There are also lots of palm trees, so grabbing some shade shoulnd't be a problem.

Guests are advised not to venture too far from the beach in front of the resort. This goes for basically all hotels in the D.R., but one guest I spoke with said his son walked off the resort's beach area and was offered drugs. (Whether that's a hint or a caution is up to you.)

Private Junior Suite pool

At 650 square feet, my deluxe junior suite felt more like an apartment than a hotel room. It was huge and had a modern design unlike anywhere else I stayed in the Dominican Republic. With a desk area, a two-couch sitting area, a picture window, a giant bed, and a comfortable balcony, the rooms are what make Sivory. And with multiple windows on multiple walls, the layout is not like your typical hotel room, either.

Upgrading from the basic deluxe junior suite will get you your own plunge pool attached to a private terrace, a larger living room, and/or a kitchen.

All rooms are clean and modern, with handsome dark wood trim, wicker furniture, and handsome big bathrooms with mod sinks and fixtures. It all looks pieced together from a West Elm catalog. The closet comes stocked with bug spray.

The king-size beds come with four big pillows and super-soft 220-thread-count sheets tucked tightly under the mattress. Guests can choose from four different kinds of pillows: standard, theremal, feather, or latex. A window above the bed looks out onto some ferns, which brings a natural element right into the room.

The large flat-screen TV only gets a couple of fuzzy channels. To remedy this, the hotel offers a DVD player and a free DVD borrowing library.

As for the bathroom, I'll go ahead and say it: A two-person Jacuzzi and a two-person shower with two shower heads on opposing walls can make for a phenomenal couples vacation. The Jacuzzi is next to a window and shaded by a bunch of ferns. (Not to worry: There are shades as well.) Bathrooms come stocked with large (for a hotel) bottles of shampoo and conditioner from Etro. There are also heavy robes waiting next to the Jacuzzi.

My main complaint is that only a few windows open and there's no screen on the sliding glass door. This will frustrate those who fly to the Caribbean looking for the gentle night breeze to wash over them. It won't happen -- you'll have to settle for that not-so-gentle AC gust.

All balconies are private and overlook the ocean. Though technically on ground level, the balcony off my room was suspended a few feet in the air. Along its edges were two giant daybeds. A nice touch: bamboo wind chimes. Guests who upgrade from the basic deluxe junior suite get a private plunge pool or a Jacuzzi.

The infinity pool

The pool is a bit of a letdown. Though it's technically an infinity pool, it's surrounded by a concrete walkway, so it lacks the same feeling as an infinity pool next to the ocean or one with a steep drop-off on one side. The wind, common during my stay (February), picked up by mid-afternoon and forced guests away from the pool area. Staff told me the wind I felt was unusually strong, though. There's a bar right next to the pool.

The fitness center is small but clean, with big windows that look out on a grassy area. The fitness center has just a couple of cardio machines and weight lifting machines, but they're new and in good working condition. No personal trainers.

There's also a tennis court, and staff will clean it off at the request of guests.

The hotel also has meeting rooms for business guests and computers to use. And there's in-room Wi-Fi.

Aquarea Spa & Wellness Center

The spa consists of an open-air room with a hot tub and a plunge pool. Off the main room, there's a steam sauna and a dry sauna. Both are kept very clean and are sufficiently hot.

There are also multiple massage rooms (hydro) and a beauty salon with a fitness center attached. To cool off, there are two sets of three different showers: a traditional shower, one with jets on the wall, and (my personal favorite) a bucket shower, where you pull the chain and a bucket of water tips, pouring its contents all over you.

Use of the fitness center, Jacuzzi, saunas, locker rooms, thermal pool, and showers is free.

The Sivory Grand Suite

Sivory can arrange toys for kids and baby-sitting services, which is fairly standard for other luxe resorts like Tortuga Bay. But it is without a doubt designed for adults and couples.

A small family could share a standard room, if the kids are willing to bunk on the couches. Otherwise, four rooms have connecting doorways for parents who want to be close to their children but not in the same room. There's also the Sivory Grand Suite for families who want to have their own villa to themselves. This 2,250-square-foot villa has two master bedrooms, but staff can set up one of the rooms with two twin beds.

The restaurants can accommodate children but are much more geared toward an adult palate and are advertised as gourmet dining.

Families should be cautious venturing too far from the property, especially along the beach. Sivory is fairly isolated, but one father I spoke with said his son was offered drugs while walking along the beach far from the resort.

For luxury resorts that are more family friendly, check Caso De Camp and Punta Cana Estates.

The lobby

Our room was super-clean. Even the white covers on the couches were clean and showed no signs of use. Rooms had no noticeable odor, and the lobby smelled like fresh vanilla, thanks to the cool hand towels given to guests during check-in.

The grounds were also well maintained. Management says all plantings are native and therefore don't require additional water -- score one for the environment.

During our stay, I did see that quite a bit of sand had blown from the beach into the pool. Management said this was a rare occurrence due to an unusually windy month. While I was there, staff members were in the process of building a wall to prohibit this from happening in the future.

Dinner at Laveranda Restaurant

Sivory has a few upscale restaurants, where the food is good but still not at the level of equally priced restaurants in, say, New York or Las Vegas. For the Domincan Republic, though, it compares favorably with just about everywhere but Tortuga Bay.

Sivory has three restaurants for its 55 rooms. This is a pretty good ratio -- you can get a table easily -- but you still might get bored eating from the same three spots after a week-long stay. This is a hard situation to avoid at any hotel, though, no matter the size. It's also important to note that there aren't any great dining options nearby worth leaving the grounds for.

Dining options include the Asian-fusion restaurant Tau, the Mediterranean Laveranda, and French cusine at Gourmond, the fanciest of the three. Gourmond also has a wine cellar stocked with 8,000 bottles of wine -- this is about the best wine selection anywhere in Punta Cana, and it rivals Casa Colonial. In addition, the Blu bar serves tapas under the palapa next to the pool during the day.

The food is pricey -- a one-serving box of Frosted Flakes costs $8 -- so it's not a bad idea to opt for the all-inclusive meal plan. Food and some booze are included for $150 per day.