What a week!  I just returned home from The Romance Travel Forum, which was held at the Hard Rock Punta Cana. It was jam-packed filled with learning sessions; one-on-one meetings with Caribbean resorts, tourism boards, suppliers and more; evening events that were out of this world; networking networking networking time with other agents and suppliers; renewing friendships… All to help me do my job better!

Come along and check out the resorts with me!! This only has a few of the hundreds of photos I took – if you are interested in any particular resort, please feel free to contact me!

My first couple of nights were spent at the Majestic Colonial – still one of my favourite resorts, and where one of my daughters got married several years ago. This was my 2 nights and 1 day to myself – just to recharge my batteries after a crazy couple of months!!  Love love love this resort for weddings, and just for holidays.

Beautiful Beach Gazebo

I actually let someone take my picture… Look at that beach!!

Lazy river in the family section. Beautiful

My room. Jr. Suite – all rooms are basically the same, just depends on view and building.

And this happened…

Then it was on to the Hard Rock Hotel, where the atmosphere is completely different.  Huge (almost 2000 rooms); party atmosphere; lots of music memorabilia; fantastic beach.  But when you close the door to your room, you are in your own piece of heaven… Unfortunately, at a conference like this – honestly, we see the room in the morning; then to change for the evening event; then to sleep.  What a shame, lol!!

My room

My room. Once again, this is what the majority of rooms look like until you get into the high categories.

One of their many beautiful beach wedding locations

I had set up my own set of site inspections before the conference started, as there were still a few resorts I wanted/needed to see.  I was surprised to have my driver from last year pick me up.  He told me that he saw my name on the agenda for the day and requested me, as ‘we had so much fun last year’ on the site inspections I had set up.  Thanks, Lillin, for starting my day off great!!

Lillin – my favourite driver with Olympus Punta Cana

Our first stop was Zoetry.  This 96-room tranquil zen-like resort is perfect when you really want to get away.  No entertainment teams; no nightlife; no party games – just rest and relaxation.  Lots of beautiful areas for weddings and private functions.  Free wifi and laundry – you don’t get that combination very often! Superb service.  Once again, most rooms are the same – it’s just the location.

Jr. Suite garden view, aqua area

Beautiful pool area

Deluxe Jr. Suite Oceanfront with plunge pool

Deluxe Jr. Suite Oceanfront with plunge pool

From there, it was on to Breathless – a sister property to Zoetry.  Well, this one is not tranquil, lol! But it was fantastic.  Greeted at the lobby with music, you could tell already there was a very fun vibe to this resort. Unfortunately, there were also a LOT of timeshare reps (oops, vacation club salesmen) hanging around everywhere and stopping everyone to talk to them. I had quite a wait until the person who was taking me around was available, so was able to observe this firsthand.  Other than that, it is a beautiful property.  Larger property, but with only 754 rooms.  Some great areas for weddings, including a sky terrace.  And as I learned a couple of nights later at one of the events that was hosted here, they have a great nightlife too!

Swim up suites at Sensory Building

Beach wedding area. Sand isn’t as white as Bavaro, but still soft

Sky Wedding – very windy that day, so they were having ‘issues’

And then on to Dreams Punta Cana.  I get a lot of requests for this one – so I needed to see it for myself!  Lots of unique locations and terraces for weddings and functions. One great feature – their kid’s club gives the parents a cell phone when they drop the kids off so they can keep in touch in case something goes wrong.  Loved it!  620 rooms, nice mid-sized resort.  Another sister property to Zoetry, so an option if you want a bit livelier night out.  A bit more subdued than Breathless, but still a very fun atmosphere.

Garden gazebo

Peaceful oasis in the middle of the resort

Beach gazebo

Deluxe (standard) room. Courtesy of Dreams Punta Cana

Chic.  I went into this one not knowing what to expect.  It’s brand new (just opened in December), so I hadn’t read or heard a lot about it yet – but I just knew I wanted to tour it.  I was BLOWN. AWAY.  It’s not the location; or the rooms; or the restaurants; or the amazing cabanas; or the open concept pool; or the 6 bedroom mansion on-site; or the ambience as you walk in the lobby.  It is all of that combined and more.  It’s hard to put into words – you’ll just have to go!  With what I did know about it before, I thought it would be mostly late 20’s early 30’s, but there was every age there – including a lot of my age!  And they were all having a great time.

Beach wedding gazebo

Cabanas for rent – with butler and fridge

Pool

Luxury Oceanview

View of pool and ocean from the luxury oceanview room

Lobby Bar

Stay tuned over the next few days as I add more site inspections and information.  You can ALWAYS contact me for further information or photos!!