Now that the world is finally opening up again and both me and my son are fully vaccinated we will be heading to....

Exactly 7 years ago was our first time to Dominican Republic, I have since then visited this beautiful country many times.

In June 2014 we did a split stay between Club Med Punta Cana and the Melia Caribe Tropical, traveling with 2 little ones (age 5 and 3) feels like ages ago (it kinda was).

That was our first experience as a family to the all-inclusive concept

Club Med is known for picking the best location, many years before anyone else, the rest just follow later.
This resort is no different. The ride is about 90 minutes north of the airport in the Samana area.
I visited the area once before but never had the chance to see the property after it was built.

Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda is the first ALL EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION resort in north America and was just recently opened after over 20 years in the region.

Can't wait to enjoy this amazing property for a much needed getaway.

To know before traveling to Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda
As travel continues to rebound around the world, Club Med has enhanced their Safe Together hygiene and safety protocols to ensure peace of mind for all guests. Beginning June 19, Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda will follow the European Union’s reopening guidelines, as well as recommendations from the CDC, by requiring all travelers aged 11 or older to show proof of complete vaccination upon arrival or a negative PCR or Antigen test, taken within 72 hours prior to arrival. Should guests be unable to meet these requirements, a rapid Antigen test will be administered on-site upon arrival at no additional cost.

The only thing better than a club med vacation is a ANOTHER Club med vacation back to back.
We will be heading to CLUB MED PUNTA CANA.

This resort is located less than 5 minutes away from the airport and has one of the best beaches in the area.

Four years ago, I spent a week with my Son and we can't wait to experience it again and create more memories.

Club med is an active style resort, lots of activities like archery, windsurfing, volleyball, tennis and so many fun things to do for the family, the kids club is amazing and is one of the best I have seen in the world, the Trapeze/Circus school is a unique feature you can only find at Club Med.

Stay tunes for recent pictures and videos on our Facebook/Instagram page

If you are traveling without kids or just looking for a kids free environment, Club Med Punta Cana has a ZEN OASIS section which is a +18 adult only section with an amazing lap pool and the rooms are very modern and spacious.

A travel agent? Do they still have those? I thought the internet made you obsolete...
Ask any travel professional out there and I'm sure they will say they hear that on a daily basis.
When you think of it, in today's age everything is on the internet, you can look at pictures, read reviews, compare price, "I can be my own travel agent, can't I?!"

You might think that but let me give you an example... you are looking for a simple getaway for you and your family, you saved for this vacation for a few years (or months), you are planning on using most of your annual days off from work and head to paradise for a week.

You go on your favorite website for travel, input the dates and..... more than 100 options come up! what do you do now? Oh.. I know I will sort them by price, because that's how we shop, right? we go to a store and ask "can you show me all the clothes or shoes by price" is that how you purchased your car? show me the cheapest option and let's go from there? Probably not, but let's get back to your favorite website.

You found your resort, it looks amazing (the picture), you read some reviews from people you don't know anything about and that know nothing about you but for some reason you trust what they have to say because their trip was amazing and they gave the property 5 stars review BUT wait there is another family that gave the same property 1 star... how is that even possible?

Now let's get back to what a travel professional does for a living and no we don't just travel all day, get free trips and book travel on just any booking site for you.
We spend time learning about destinations, resorts & tours. We meet suppliers and hoteliers to make sure our clients get the VIP treatment when they check in to the resort. We also go on trips, we call them Familiarization trip, which sounds like a vacation but in fact you will travel for 3-4 nights, normally spending 2 nights at each resort. Each day you will have about 6-8 site inspections, which means seeing every category of room, meeting spaces, restaurants, common areas, kids club, theater, the beach (did i mention we wear business attire?), the pools and so much more in about an hour.
We take pictures, videos and write reviews about the properties and have to decide if it's the right property for our clients. multiply it by 6-8 times and you have a typical FAM day.

And going back to our family that is desperately looking for a Memorable vacation... they finally decided to call a travel professional that specializes in All Inclusive vacations. They explain that they already picked the property and just want to get his opinion and MAYBE they will book with him.

The agent explains, Well... the property you picked, I know it looks nice in the pictures... and the reviews are pretty good BUT I know the property and we actually stopped selling it for now.
You see, the picture you saw online - it's from 5 years ago and they are now building a 13-floor building right on the beach. There is dust and noise all around and although the price is amazing (can you guess why?) are you sure you want to spend your vacation in a construction zone?