Dominican Republic Travel Guide

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Barceló Punta Cana to Host the Mr. Universe Competition (Again)

April 19, 2011 at 11:32 AM | by | Comment (1)

If you love men who love banana hammocks and speedos, you'll want to head to the Barceló Punta Cana Resort. The Dominican Republic hotel will be full of hard-bodied, tan men when it hosts the finale of this year's Mr. Universe pageant.

You will be able to see the ripped guys flexing their muscles and strutting on the catwalk at the all-inclusive hotel from May 10 to 14. Given that the Barceló Punta Cana sits on the water, you may also be able to "accidentally" run into a few of the muscular contestants at the beach.

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What Really Happened with the Real Housewives at the Hard Rock Punta Cana

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Blvd. Turístico del Este, km 28 #74, Macao, Municipio de Higüey, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
April 4, 2011 at 10:31 AM | by | Comments (2)

We told you about the Real Housewives of New Jersey bar fight that went down at the Hard Rock Punta Cana. But deets are now surfacing, and it looks like housewife Teresa Giudice is being blamed for starting the brawl.

You're probably wondering if she instigated the February 23 fight by calling someone a "prostitution whore" or flipping over a table. Nope, according to RadarOnline, all she did to get a bar-goer angry was pop open a bottle of bubbly.

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The Real Housewives Of New Jersey Brawl at the Hard Rock Punta Cana

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Blvd. Turístico del Este, km 28 #74, Macao, Punta Cana, Municipio de Higüey, Dominican Republic
February 28, 2011 at 4:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

Oscars, Schmoscars. We may have liked the pretty dresses on display last night but the celeb news we’re really lubsing from this weekend is that the Real Housewives of New Jersey got into a bar brawl at the Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana. That’s, like, so Jersey Shore season 1!

According to TMZ:

A couple of castmembers were hanging out at a bar inside the Hard Rock around 1:00 AM Wednesday morning when they got into a heated argument with a male patron.

We're told someone involved in the argument grabbed a drinking glass and smashed it over the man's head ... and the guy was hurt so badly, he needed immediate medical attention.

It’s still not known which members of the cast were involved, but all of them, including their other halves, had flown down for a week’s holiday last Sunday.

Still, we’ll know soon enough. According to the New York Post, the event was all caught on camera. Place your bets now.

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The First All-Inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Hits Punta Cana in a Few Weeks

October 13, 2010 at 4:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

Are you champing at the bit to get down to the Dominican Republic and party like a rock star on the beach? Well, you'll be able to in a few weeks, if the Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana is to be believed. The massive complex of 121 acres, boasting more swimming pools than you can count on two hands and almost as many theme clubs and lounges, soft opens to guests on November 1, with it's official grand opening coming next spring.

It's an all-inclusive resort, of course, even though it's the first all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel. There'll be photobooths and live performances all over the place, just be sure to budget for some extra playing in the "Vegas-style casino," which will have 457 slots and 40 tables.

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Flowers in the Hotel Toilet: Cute or Gross?

May 14, 2010 at 4:08 PM | by | Comments (3)

You know how it is when you check into a hotel and you're so tired, so desperate to just have a private place to lay down and relax? You do a quick little look around the room and the bathroom, and perhaps there's a couple cute little flowers placed on the freshly folded towels, but you never expect flowers to also be floating in the toilet, do you?

This is something we encountered for the first time ever last week, at the Puntacana Resort in the Dominican Republic. We lifted up the toilet lid and saw something in the toilet bowl, but happily they were only the little pink flowers you see pictured above. A cute gesture...or is it?

Have you ever been greeted by flowers in the hotel room's toilet? What hotel had them? Perhaps it's just an island thing, but we're curious to see just how widespread this practice is, and if it grosses out anyone else. Let us know in the comments!

Full Disclosure: We were in the DR thanks to Jetblue and the Dominican Republic Board of Tourism. But rest assured that we worked more than swam, and all views expressed here are our own.

[Photo: HotelChatter]

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Inside the Restaurants and Pools of Oscar de la Renta's Tortuga Bay Hotel

May 11, 2010 at 3:20 PM | by | Comments (2)

Now that we've already taken you inside of the exclusive, Oscar de la Renta-designed Tortuga Bay Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, it's about time to show you around the grounds, since this hotel has access to almost every bit of the PUNTACANA complex, aside from the residences where Oscar de la Renta, Julio Iglesias and Mikhail Baryshnikov live.

Bamboo Restaurant: Tortuga Bay is not an all-inclusive resort, as they like giving you the freedom to go and eat at local restaurants, but what is included is a continental breakfast buffet in the de la Renta-designed Bamboo Restaurant. It also serves lunch, dinner and drinks poolside, if you don't desire to leave the hotel.

Ojos Indigenas Ecological Park: Hop in the golf cart that comes with your room to drive 5 minutes down the beach to this 1,500-acre protected ecological park, where there is a hiking trail and eleven natural freshwater pools (some of which you can swim). It's completely free, and you can see more pictures and details on it here.

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Inside Oscar de la Renta's Tortuga Bay Hotel in the Dominican Republic

May 10, 2010 at 2:41 PM | by | Comments (0)

There's a reason that the Oscar de la Renta-designed Tortuga Bay hotel in Punta Cana, Dominica Republic has a perfect five-star rating on TripAdvisor, and that reason is some of the most excellent hotel service that can be had anywhere. From picking you up from your flight right on the tarmac, as if you had arrived by private plane, to getting you tee times at one of the world's most exclusive golf courses, Tortuga can easily go beyond your greatest expectations.

We go inside of it, after the jump

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Jay-Z Does Some Big Pimpin' at Casa de Campo for His 40th Birthday

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic
December 9, 2009 at 9:07 AM | by | Comments (0)

Perhaps Beyoncé travels with a supply of throws.

We’re getting slightly jealous bored of these celeb-filled hotel launch parties at the moment, but we also like our lodgings to come with a little sprinkling of stardust. Luckily, Beyoncé has helped us out this week with the bash she threw at the weekend in honour of Jay Z’s 40th birthday.

She flew 50 of his mates (including Diddy, Oprah, Kate Hudson and A-Rod, Kanye and Amber Rose and Alicia Keys) out on private jets to the Casa de Campo resort in the Dominican Republic.

The theme was old-style gangster. There were two dance floors. There were fireworks. There was Alicia duetting with the birthday boy. There were even synchronized swimmers.

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Puntacana Celebrates 40th Anniversary With A Spruce-Up

October 29, 2009 at 8:57 AM | by | Comments (0)

We haven't quite reached our 40th birthday yet, but when we do, a bit of a renovation will probably be just what we need. That was the same thought the Puntacana Resort and Club in the Dominican Republic had. They're celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and have been having some major refurbishments done, which are due to be all tidied up by the end of this week.

The Puntacana Hotel has spruced up all of its 186 rooms. There are now flat screen TVs throughout, new paint and bedding, and it's looking nice and fresh.

Refurbished doesn't mean more expensive: they've still got some good deals going. If you book online at their website, you can pay from $96 for the "new" rooms including breakfast. There seem to be plenty of rooms available at the $96 rate, right through until December 18.

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Maxim Magazine's Maxim Bungalows No More

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 1 Paradise Drive, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
October 8, 2008 at 2:28 PM | by | Comment (1)

Could it be that the Maxim Bungalows in the Dominican Republic, which has only been open for a little over a six months, has closed?

A tipster let us know that the website wasn't working and indeed when we clicked the URL, it sent us to a GoDaddy.com page. GoDaddy is a URL purchasing site and while somebody does own the Maxim Bungalows URL, there's no info nor any redirection going on here. So we just had to find out what was up.

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Celebrities Flocking to Maxim Bungalows

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Cofresi Beach, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
May 7, 2008 at 4:52 PM | by | Comments (3)

A while back we asked if those Maxim Bungalows were too good to be true and found that as far as we could see, guests were loving this place.

Now, a hotel rep wanted to let us know that celebs are loving the place as well. Some stars making the trip down include, Carrie Ann Inaba, judge of "Dancing with the Stars", Brittany Snow, Dylan McDermott, Chris Evans and Laura Prepon. OK! Magazine also went down there to do a photo shoot for Cashmere Mafia's Bonnie Sommerville (above).

But aside from celebrity sightings, the resort just opened its Social restaurant thus enabling you to dance, drink and party like a celeb even if you don't spy one on your stay there.

Now if only those celeb guests would submit to us a VIP Hotel Review.

Stayed at the Maxim Bungalows recently? Tell us what you did, who you saw and oh yeah, if you liked the hotel?

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Maxim Bungalows To Get Hip Social Restaurant

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
April 3, 2008 at 9:15 AM | by | Comments (0)

Whether or not the Maxim Bungalows are really a good place to vacation, the resort will be getting a hip dining scene.

Prolific restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow will open the Social Dominican Republic restaurant at the Cofresi Beach location of the resort on April 15th.

Chef Angel Mejia will oversee Social Dominican Republic along with general manager Sean Mohammed, both formerly at Social Miami at Sagamore in sizzling South Beach. Designer Carlos Oroza of architecture firm Prada Kulich created an intimate setting for Social Dominican Republic, seating 70 guests inside and 40 outside.

The restaurant will serve a daily specialty breakfast buffet as well as a full dinner menu. Some selections served at night include the Basil Cured Atlantic Salmon, served with crème fraiche and the Grilled Caribbean Lobster served with asparagus, brown butter, lime and cashews.

However, what actually interests us more is the special poolside fare Social will serve which includes Frozen Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Lollipops, Mojito Sno-Cones, and Frozen Spiced Grapes with Rum. Yummy.

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