My husband and I recently got back from a full week in the beautiful Dominican Republic! Punta Cana has become one of our favorite travel spots when we want to just sit on a beach and relax while enjoying some tropical drinks and good food. It’s an easy flight from South Carolina, and we always have a good time. We’ve stayed at a couple different resorts in Punta Cana, and this was our first time staying at the Paradisus Palma Real. Overall, we loved it!!
Since we are members in the Circle by Melia membership program, we receive some extra special benefits staying at their resorts which I’ll mention below. We were there during their 3rd annual Member’s Fest which is a week full of special events, activities, dinners, and theme parties for Circle Members. It was a blast! Keep on reading for all the details and a full review of the resort.
Location/Transportation:
The Paradisus Palma Real is located just 20 minutes from the PUJ airport, and the transportation was super easy and convenient. The resort requested our flight information ahead of time, so they had a driver waiting for us when we landed, and took us directly to the resort. Getting back to the airport was pretty much the same – the resort arranged a driver to take us back when it was time to leave. It could not have been easier. If you don’t have transportation arranged, there are plenty of taxis and driver services available outside of baggage claim. You’ll be able to find a ride easily!
Room:
We stayed in a deluxe junior suite room, and it was nice! Definitely not the biggest resort room we have stayed in, but it worked for the two of us. It was a studio style room with a king size bed, and a bench at the end of the bed which was the only seating in the room. We had a stocked mini fridge, snacks, Nespresso machine, and a large TV. The bathroom was pretty basic with one sink, a toilet, shower, and soaking tub. We had a small deck overlooking some pools, and an ocean view out to the side! Overall the room was nice, clean, and spacious enough for the two of us.
Pools:
I couldn’t tell you how many pools there are at this resort, because there are a lot! The main pool is massive with several in-water chairs and a swim up bar, which is where most people seemed to hang out. Then there is a Reserve/adults only pool, and a Circle Members only pool. All of the pools are really nice! Since we are Circle Members, we spent most of our pool time at the member’s pool since it was less crowded. There are bars at each pool, and waiters walking around taking drink orders. No matter where you sit, you won’t be thirsty!
Beach:
One of my favorite things about Palma Real is that you are only steps away from the beach! Some other resorts I have stayed at in Punta Cana require a long walk, or even a golf cart ride to get to the beach. So we loved that it was so close, and I really enjoyed being able to see the ocean from our balcony too! The beach itself was really nice, with soft white sand and gorgeous blue water. There were tons of beach chairs and cabanas available, although the ones closest to the water got taken very early. There were plenty of beach activities available to do – kayaking, parasailing, snorkeling, etc. and several people selling excursions like party boats, swim with the dolphins, catamaran trips, and things like that you could sign up for.
Food & Drink:
We were really impressed with the quality of food at this resort, especially being an all inclusive! There was a buffet, and several restaurants. We prefer sit down restaurants, so we did not try the buffet at all during this trip.
Breakfast: There was only one breakfast restaurant (besides the buffet) and it was a Reserve only restaurant, Sante. Luckily we had access through our membership, but if you book a regular (non Reserve) room, your only option for breakfast will be buffet or room service. We really enjoyed the breakfast though – I loved the fresh pressed juice and salmon omelette, my husband loved the French toast.
Lunch: There were a couple options for lunch – my favorite was Sante, the same Reserve restaurant we had breakfast at. If you are a foodie, I would definitely book a Reserve room so you can access this restaurant! It’s worth the upgrade.
Dinner: There were several options for dinner – a steakhouse, Italian, hibachi, Mexican, Artisan, and the Reserve restaurant was (I think) Mediterranean for dinner. You will need a reservation for any other these restaurants, so keep that in mind if you want to visit! My favorite was probably the Mexican restaurant Blue Agave (fajitas were delicious) and we loved Mascalzones, the Italian too!
One of membership perks is getting a private dinner on the beach one night, and this was absolutely amazing! We had 3 (3 course) menus to choose from, and we went with the salmon dinner. It was delicious, and such a cool experience!
Service:
One thing we love about Melia resorts is that no matter where you stay, the service is consistently amazing. The staff at this resort was so friendly, professional, and genuinely seemed happy to be there. We had a concierge who was super helpful – they will take care of things like dinner reservations, golf or spa appointments, excursions, airport transportation, etc. They’re available via WhatsApp and checked in with us daily to see how we were doing and if we needed anything.
Things To Do:
We are happy to sit at the beach and pool all week 🙂 But if you are interested in activities, there is plenty to do! There is a full schedule of resort activities available each day such as yoga, mixology classes, dance classes, etc. There is also a gym, spa, and golf course nearby.
Since we were there during Member’s Fest, they had tons of activities specific to the event. (I’m not sure if they are available all the time) but we did a painting class on the beach one day, and a chocolate tasting experience another day. Both were a lot of fun! They also had a golf tournament one day which my husband played in, and he had a great time! He even won an award 🙂
Like I mentioned before, are tons of excursions you can sign up for outside of the resort – snorkeling, zip lining, swim with the dolphins, etc. We didn’t do any this trip, but the Saona Island excursion was a lot of fun a couple years ago!
Katmandu Theme Park opened earlier this year, and it’s just a golf cart ride away from the resort! We were able to check it out back in February before it “officially” opened, and it was really cool!! They have mini golf courses, virtual reality rides, a huge in-air obstacle course, and more! We didn’t make it there this trip, but wanted to mention it for anyone who may be visiting!
Night Life:
Not going to lie, I’m more of a “bed by 9pm” person these days haha. But there was a lot to do at night time! There were theme parties each night for the Member’s Fest, as well as live music and performances. We loved grabbing drinks at the lobby bar, and also really enjoyed the sports bar – it had comfy seats, big TV’s with football on, and pool tables.
Overall we had an amazing time, and I definitely recommend if you are looking for an all inclusive in Punta Cana! You can check out the travel page of my blog to see other resort reviews I’ve done, but I have to say… I think that the Paradisus Palma Real might be my favorite in Punta Cana. We had such a good experience, we will definitely stay here again! As always feel free to leave any questions in the comments below, or you can reach out on Instagram!
