๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ & ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฃ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ, ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ. I posted a quick hotel review on my Instagram, but I wanted to write a more in depth review for you here. I will spare you the travel requirements for the Dominican Republic as they are ever changing. If you have questions about them, don’t hesitate to send me a message.
First off, if you haven’t been, then you need to stop what you are doing and email me for a price quote to book a trip. The Dominican Republic is stunning, the people are insanely friendly, and the hospitality at this resort is impeccable. I don’t often say I will return to a location, but I would absolutely return to Punta Cana, even to this resort!
xhale club:
We stayed in an xhale club Junior Suite Swim Up. xhale is what they call their club level. Is it worth the upgrade? ๐ฏ%. Some of the upgraded features are a personal concierge (who I would text with daily and who booked all our reservations for us,) access to a private lounge, pools, and beach, as well as premium liquor and hors dโoeuvres in the private lounge! We even had a server at the pool lounge that would bring drinks while we lounged at the pool and one on the beach as well. I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that.
To be honest, we never even went to the main pools because our room was a swim up room, so we had access to the pool right outside of our patio. (I actually highly recommend this if you have kids because of the convenience. At a different resort of course since this one is Adults Only.) It was also conveniently located right beside the xhale lounge.
Room:
The room is extremely spacious, especially for 2 people, at 601 sq ft. We had 2 Queen beds and a sitting area, mini bar area, and a very large bathroom. The patio also had a private jacuzzi tub, outside and in our case, overlooking the pool. I did use it and it was relaxing. The mini bar is included in your stay and restocked daily. It includes water, soda, beer, a bottle of rum, candy, and Pringles. There is a coffee pot as well. They also advertise a pillow menu, though we didn’t use it. At night, they do turn down service and leave Hershey’s kisses on your bed. I’m not sure if this is just for club level or if they do it for the entire resort. I can’t wait until the room tour video is out so be sure to check back for that!
Beach:
The beach is beautiful! We used the private xhale club beach and our concierge reserved a Bali bed for us, at no charge thanks to club level, so we had a nice place to relax all day (you can come and go). It’s covered so you can also get in from the sun if you need to and you have a place to leave your things. There are several options for reserved beds/cabanas on the beach. Lounge chairs are first come first served. It was never crowded though so there was plenty of space. Also, as I mentioned before, there is a butler that will bring you drinks as you lay there blissfully.
Food:
There are several restaurants and to eat from and I found the food perfectly average. It wasn’t the greatest food I’ve ever had, but I enjoyed it enough and thought everything was cooked well. There is a buffet called Spoon that is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They do close between meals, so make sure you are aware of this if you want to eat here. Other than Spoon, the club lounge is the only place to get breakfast and that is a continental breakfast.
The other sit down restaurants are Spumante (Italian), Silk City (hibachi and the only restaurant you need reservations), Coquette (French), Culinaria (International – whatever that means – we did not eat here as it was closed), Kibbeh (Mediterranean), Picante (Mexican), Sofrito (Latin), and The Strip (steakhouse). About half of them were closed, I’m assuming due to Covid, but no explanation was given.
There is a beachside grill serving roasted chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and nachos that is open for lunch and dinner daily as well. It’s quite popular so just be aware the line gets long as they cook the food right in front of you. Actually, it’s mostly cooked, they just put it back on the grill to warm it up. It’s all delicious though, we ate here for lunch everyday.
There are also bars all over the resort.
Lastly, there is a a cafe called The Nook, but unfortunately we never made it over to try it! I know they make specialty coffee drinks, including iced coffee beverages.
The After Dark nightclub was closed (again, I assume due to Covid.)
You can also walk to the resort next door to the Dreams Onyx resort and eat at their restaurants, very convenient and opens up more options. Same types of restaurants, but different menus.
Nightlife:
Holy wow. The nightlife here is amazing. The pools all close at 6:00 PM and everyone goes back to their rooms to shower and get dressed up before dinner. After you’ve eaten the party starts. While I was there, I enjoyed a White Party on the beach (so take something white to wear just in case you are there on this night, but nothing else is needed!) and a Masquerade party. You don’t need anything for this, the entertainment staff dresses up and you just enjoy the show. They have other types of themes for parties as well, but regardless of the theme, everyone dances, drinks too much, and watches the entertainment staff. They put on some amazing performances! I saw belly dancers, fire breathers, fire dancing, and more.
All in all, I would absolutely stay at this resort again. I don’t say that often, but if I need a break or even a quick getaway (it’s only a 4 hour flight for me!), this is the place I’m going.
๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ (๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ@๐ด๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น.๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ) ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
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