Exploring the Dominican Republic as a family of 5
written by Stacey Neil

Initially I was a little worried about how the children would cope on an eight to nine hour flight, especially with an extremely energetic 5 year old boy (!), but armed with backpacks stuffed with colouring, games and the all important snacks, we survived relatively well! The in-flight entertainment was also a big hit!

Paradisus Grand Cana can’t fail to ‘WOW’. Upon arrival you are greeted in a large, clean, open, and modern lobby with a sparkling water feature instantly making you feel relaxed. The staff were super friendly and the check in process was straight forward.

In our experience, finding a hotel that has a family room big enough to accommodate five people isn’t always easy. All rooms at this resort are suites with a kitchen and dining area, lounge area, separate bedrooms, and large bathrooms. I had booked a two bedroom master suite but I was absolutely gobsmacked when we opened the door to our room and found that we actually had TWO huge, connecting suites! There was so much space it was unbelievable and in the words of my 6 year old son, ‘it was sick’, the ultimate words of approval!

This resort operates on an all-inclusive basis, which as a family, we find really suits us. The children love helping themselves at mealtimes and it encourages them to try new things. Having had a quick explore when we arrived, the children were straight in the huge main pool, which has a brilliant swim up bar. My youngest son thought it was fantastic and was straight up there requesting a drink, shouting ‘Mummy, you won’t believe this, it’s all FREE!!’ If only he knew! As well as the main pool there is a small waterpark on site, with popcorn and ice cream on tap, which the children really enjoyed.

The food was lovely. There is a good choice of al a carte restaurants for you to book in addition to the main buffet restaurant. We all LOVED the hibachi show, which was such good fun! The children’s menu in the al a carte restaurants was small but enough to keep them happy; chicken nuggets and macaroni cheese never disappoint! It was also great to see them being more adventurous and ordering from the adult menus, my 9 year old daughter loves a steak!

Another positive with this resort is that you can also use all the facilities at its sister hotel, Garden Suites by Melia, which sits directly next to it. Giving you even more choice of restaurants, pools, and entertainment.

There is a free ‘kids club’ at the Resort, but my children didn’t use it, there was always so much happening around the pool that they didn’t feel the need to! During the day there was a full itinerary of activities that you could dip in and out of if you wanted to. From paddle boarding, to inflatables, to slime making and foam parties on the beach, it was jam packed with fun! There were also various water fitness classes for the adults, which made you feel a little less guilty about the all-inclusive over
indulgence!

The evening entertainment was just as fun. The outdoor movie night was a hit, as well as the roller disco, circus night and the family festival. The resort puts so much effort into providing entertainment for all the family and at no extra cost. When you book a stay with this Resort, you also get one free entry each into Katmandu theme park, that hosts several virtual reality attractions, high ropes, and mini golf. This was a fun evening out and a nice way to break the holiday up a little. There are some height restrictions to be aware of, which did not go down well with my younger two! I can’t write about this resort without mentioning it’s stunning beach with its white sand and clear, blue sea! My children aren’t beach lovers (que constant moaning about the sand!), but we loved popping to the beach for a couple of hours every now and then to break up the day, and the fact that the children didn’t move from the sun loungers as they didn’t want to put their feet in the sand, meant we could actually relax and ready a book, hoorah! The beach is a short 10 minute walk down from the hotel, or you can jump on the free shuttle bus that makes return trips throughout the day and evening.

I’m sure you can tell that I could talk about this resort and our stay there all day! It was genuinely a fantastic family holiday with lots of fun from start to finish. A stunning hotel, luxury accommodation, friendly staff, good food and fab entertainment, what more could you ask for?!

If you have been thinking about holidaying somewhere different, go for it! Take the plunge, make the memories, you won’t regret it!