Alas, John Chalmer’s time in Cap Cana has come to an end, but he’s got loads of great memories from his time in the Dominican Republic. Here John reflects on the highlights of his holiday, and discusses all the things that make AlSol Hotels & Resorts the place to be.
Here we are back home, and whilst we’re happy to have our two cats back with us we are very sad to no longer be in the beautiful region of Cap Cana. We’ve just been sitting here talking about all the “magic moments” and laughs we had: life is too short not to have fun, and fun is what holidays are meant to be about.
To list but three “magic moments” it goes without saying that Sheena’s birthday was very special indeed and she was lucky enough to celebrate it at AlSol del Mar and Sanctuary Cap Cana by AlSol – great trip planning on my part, if I do say so myself.
Another “magic moment” that really stands out for us was on our last full day at Sanctuary Cap Cana by AlSol when we decided to have a chill-out day in our beautiful oceanfront villa. The day started off with gorgeous sunrise just before 7:00 and we decided to order breakfast from room service.
When it was delivered by Gonzalez & Cristian, Gonzalez was saying how much he liked our villa and joking about how you could sit in our plunge pool and fish in the ocean.
Well about 45 minutes later when he and Cristian returned to collect our dishes he said “come here I have something for you” and produced a fishing rod and a bowl of prawns as bait and said if I caught anything he would come and collect it and have it cooked for us for lunch. So I spent part of the morning fishing.
As we are the type of people who try to get along well with people, staff alike, I just love how all of the staff tried to relate to their guests. This was just one instance following a throwaway line (excuse the pun!) but shows that they do try to do little things to make a difference.
Unfortunately, as I did not catch anything we had to revert to Plan B and order some food for lunch. All in all a great day with some humour thrown in.
The third “magic moment” is more of a series of moments and was simply all the hours spent sitting on the wonderful deck of our outstandingly beautiful villa looking at the ocean. We watched various birds flying by and occasionally diving to catch their dinner, and most had far more luck than I did with my fishing exploits!
One of the many things we love about AlSol Hotels & Resorts in Cap Cana is their attention to detail. Together with the owners of the properties their vision is to create a unique holidaying concept in the Dominican Republic. They will shortly have four properties, all of which have their own style mixed with a few solid key ingredients:
• AlSol del Mar has a relaxed, condo style beach living feel to it.
• Sanctuary Cap Cana has a much more luxurious, upmarket feel and the gardens and architecture are amazing. Personally we feel that AlSol have made the correct decision to revert back to being adults only later in the year, for this will further refine the atmosphere.
• AlSol Luxury Village is a very quiet upmarket property that well deserves is AAA 4 Diamond status and has a far more formal feel to it.
• AlSol Tiara Collection from what we saw on our hard hat tour, from the renderings on their website and from talking with some senior people at AlSol will be a very modern, chic, family friendly, boutique hotel.
With the four properties on offer, there’s sure to be something right for you. At present they have an open “STAY IN ONE – EXPERIENCE ALL” programme, so you can get a feel for the character at each individual property.
For those of you who are thinking about trying one of the AlSol properties in Cap Cana for the first time, the one thing I would recommend is that you get out and explore the local area as it’s totally fascinating. Golfers can indulge in a round of golf as only the legendary Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus could have envisioned and brought to life. His signature Punta Espada Golf Course accentuates the natural contours of the land, acompanied by stunning views of the Caribbean Sea.
For something a little more adventurous you can charter a boat to go game fishing or diving at Cap Cana’s state-of-the-art marina which has over 130 slips, accommodating up to 150-foot yachts, with complete services for captains and crew. Its coastlines and proximity are considered among the best spots in the world for fishing and deep-water diving.
For a more thrills and spills you can visit Scape Park which promotes all the touristic sports and entertainment activities in Cap Cana, with approximately 74 acres of forest and 15 km of ecological trail where you can go mountain biking, zip lining or visit a cenote.
All in all Cap Cana is a wonderful destination and one we have fallen in love with. We cannot wait to return in September / October 2015, but in the meantime we have a 23 night multi-resort trip to Playa Mujeres, Mexico already booked via Blue Bay Travel. We learned a long time ago that before we step on a plane to come back home from anywhere we should already have our next trip booked, or at least thought of, as that way you get over the holiday blues that much faster.
Thanks John, that’s some great advice! And we’re sure you’ve all considered it a pleasure and a privilege following John’s journey. If you’ve got any questions about AlSol Hotels & Resorts, or Cap Cana in general, just let us know in the comments below.
