Michès Playa Esmeralda Dominican Republic

My son and I arrived at the resort via Toronto (transit) from London - it is a 75 mins drive then from Punta Cana, away from all the traffic and crowds to a lovely isolated location. The resort I understand is 6 years old and it was at 70 percent occupancy - the reception is rather unique in a very tropical polynesian style and I like the use of bright chairs. I cannot fault our room which was large on the first floor with a super deck outside overlooking a garden and a modern bathroom. I understand there is another restaurant but we just used the buffet on the first floor in the main building which had an amazing salad bar, fruit counter, starters, main courses (hot and cold), cheeses, breads, desserts - something for everyone and very fresh. At breakfast I especially liked the fresh watermelon juice and smoothies made. We spent our days in the pool - my son didn't join the teens club (he was worried no kids spoke english) so we played quite a bit of table tennis....when we had some rain overnight, there were puddles around the table tennis table and he had a bad fall as he slipped whilst playing so I suggested to a reception staff member they needed to put some rubber matting down around the tables, but he did not ask if he was ok???? luckily he didn't break any bones. I did get to spend a bit of time in the Zen adult pool with juice bar which was heaven. There is a gym to use and tennis courts, basketball court. We did join in the aqua aerobics on some days. There are quite a lot of security guards around which was reassuring! The beach is lovely and you can walk in both directions. There is a large shop which stocks most things like clothes, sun lotion, jewellery, sweet snacks but the prices are high - you can easily spend £500 UK on a UV tshirt, x 2 tshirts, x 2 shorts, some sun block and a few snacks and a fish carving souvenir!! one thing which could be improved on is you have to go to the reception to pay for the shop items which is a short walk but not very convenient unless you create an account (this means the resort holds £225) - can they not take card payments in the shop???. There is also a coffee shop which serves free muffins, coffees, sandwiches, fruits. The staff are very friendly and helpful although I pointed out a live mouse to one staff member as it was on a pavement and he kicked it into the bushes which shocked me with his shoe - creatures are sentient beings so there is no need to harm the mouse. Altogether a very relaxing 6 nights. Not for people who like walking to a town nearby as it is isolated but for those who want to really switch off and they can join in the resort agenda if they wish or not. As we had a short stay we didn't try quad bikes or horse riding or a visit to a cacao or rice farm or a boat trip! do not underestimate the sun here as you can burn easily as well.

Amazing trip!! Beautiful location, great food and so many activities. The staff was amazing. Especially the circus staff who were wonderful with all three of my kiddos (even my very tearful 4 year old) and myself. Special thank you to Claudia, Candela, Mailys, Nacho and Joel for helping our whole family conquer fears and achieve goals.

Despite the 90 drive from the airport, the beach at Miches is absolutely worth it!! Stunning untouched beach walks in both directions and the water is amazing! As for the Club Med, very clean, beautiful grounds, but the SERVICE from the staff is terrible !! Besides the management team most do not speak English or French and so communicating is extremely difficult. Service is so bad that end you find someone that provides good service it feels like a big exception! We also had issues with our room door locking, and no one seemed to care. The food is amazing, not your typical buffet.

We had a fantastic experience at Coco Plume. Arvind and his team welcomed us and took great care of our family for most of our meals. The food was always delicious both at lunch and diner. The music perfect for our beach vacation. I recommend the buffet from Mauritius and also the Pineapples Crème Brûlée for dessert on the diner menu.