The Westin is part of the PuntaCana Resort and Club, which is right next to the airport (about 10 mins). It’s my understanding that the PuntaCana resort and club is all owned by the same people who own the airport, so you won’t hear a plane the whole time you’re here. The whole area is SUPER nice and has a bunch of amenities and places within the community. (I’ll get into later). It is also pretty far from the "party" strip, and this is definitely not a party hotel.

When we arrived at the Westin, the staff was amazing! They brought us these fancy flavored waters and got us all set up with our room (and Alix at the front desk was the absolute best and hooked us up with a room with an amazing view of the ocean on one side and like jungle and the ocean on the other). They had someone bring our bags up for us (bring cash for tips - tipped him) and then we began our adventure.

The Room
Our room was very nice. We had a king on the fourth floor with a great view of the ocean. Very clean, no issues with housekeeping (always had fresh towels and new water bottles). The water bottles are free in the rooms and we would take them with us to the pool/beach. When we got back, there would be 5 more for the two of us. It was very nice since I was told in other reviews they charge for you water at the pool (although I have no confirmation of this). The bathroom is open with a half door between the toilet and everything else, so you don’t get a lot of privacy in there but it didn’t bug us. The room was also very quiet, we only heard someone maybe one time our whole stay. The bed was super comfy too, we slept great.

The Spa
I went to the Six Senses Spa at the golf club. The spa at the hotel only does massages, and then they send you to the other one for everything else. I set up a cocoa butter scrub at the spa at the Westin though, and the next morning I just went to the front desk and told them I had a spa appointment and they drove me over to the golf club. The scrub was AMAZING. Seriously the most relaxed I’ve ever been. I had never done a scrub/wrap before but it’s literally 180 of being massaged with the scrub, warm oils, and moisturizer. I think my girl's name was Danielh or something like that but she was absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to unwind. The spa was also cool and had a steam room and sauna to use for free before or after your appointment. The spa is in the basement of the golf club too so they all share a pool area which is also very nice.

Golf
My boyfriend played on La Cana because Corales was booked the whole time we were there. We probably set his tee time about a month before we got there too so if you really wanna play, probably book this soon. We booked through the guest service email, which is listed below. A caddy was required (and was not included in the price) but my boyfriend absolutely loved his caddy! He was apparently a very good teacher and helped my boyfriend improve his drive (and he “drove on a par 4”, which I have no idea what that means but he was really proud of). The courses were under a little bit of construction but he still said they were nice, with a few ocean front holes. Don’t forget to tip you caddy! The front desk at the hotel also provided my boyfriend with a ride over the the club without any issues. They also have a little golf shop there and they called the Westin to come pick us up once we were ready to go back.

Food.
We did the Full American meal plan. This was unlimited free drinks (with some exclusions as to type, aka no top shelf or bottles) and then food all day. They say tips are included in what you pay and most the time they tell you not write in a tip on the slip but that being said, they expect tips lol. We asked someone about this and they said the tip that is included in the plan is like 10% which is then spread between everyone. So if you have good service, you should still probably leave a tip for the wait staff, in cash.

Breakfast was included in our room (I think in everyone’s rooms). It was served buffet style at the restaurant next to the lobby, and wasn’t really that great. Typically waffles, pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes, chorizo, ham, cheeses, and pastries. They did have a guy making fresh custom omelets that were pretty good though. This is the only meal we didn’t leave a tip with since there is no server or anyone who really helps you.

For lunch, the restaurant at the beach and I think the kite bar (bar at the pool) serve food. With the full american plan, we each got an appetizer, a main course and a desert. It’s so much food. The portions are normal sized, not resort sized, and man oh man we barely ate all of what came with the package. I personally stayed away from the foods I could get in america and went for the Peruvian menu (chef is from Peru) at the beach front restaurant. The Chicken Aji was the absolute best! And the staff was amazing every day. Super nice and helpful. If you don’t have the meal plan, prices are about $6-$10 for an alcoholic drink, and then the meals are between $10-$25 ish, depending on what you get. I think the chicken aji was priced at $16. We never had any issues getting a table, but it was halloween ish time when we went, which I guess is their slow season.

For dinner, the beach restaurant and the restaurant attached to the lobby serve dinner. Again, I only ate from the Dominican or Peruvian menus, but everything I got was very very good. Prices were about the same as lunch. We never had to wait for a table, but I was told to put on clothes for dinner at the beach restaurant(sounds bad but I was in my bathing suit after just coming from the pool with a big shirt on so not that bad lol).

With the meal plan, we could also eat at the club house and Playa Blanca. The club house required reservations but was hosting a 50 year anniversary for their owners the night we tried to go, so we were not allowed to make reservations. We also never ate at Playa Blanca, but I was told by others that it was not great (cold food, slow staff, etc.). Not sure through since we didn’t go.

Otherwise, the drinks were amazing. I really tried a lot on their menus and they were all fantastic. The bar staff was all lovely too and would chit chat, suggest drinks, and help you with your Spanish! There is a bar in the lobby (that had live music Friday), a bar in the pool (had a DJ on Saturday during the day), a bar in the cigar bar, and of course bars in the restaurants. If you’re at the pool or ocean, sometimes the staff would come by and take drink orders, but this was not a given and often we would just get up to get drinks. Juan Ventura at the Cigar Bar was the best bartender we had all trip! He was awesome and really made our nights fun!

Pool
The pool area is very nice. One large pool, with a 3ft infinity pool attached and a hot tub. It was never very crowded when we were there and they don’t allow people to hold chairs (not that you need to). That being said, on Saturday and Sunday the pool actually got busy. Both days we did excusions and were not sitting at the pool all day, but I could tell they were busy because when we went to go into the pool/hot tub after dinner, the pool area was TRASHED! There were drinks/empty cups and dishes and dirty towels all over the pool and NO ONE was cleaning any of it up! They were also out of towels and there were three employees sitting in the towel area on their phones and not cleaning the pool area up! It was honestly super gross and my only complaint of the trip.

Ocean
The Ocean was beautiful! Not too much seaweed, but some does wash ashore, which they clean by hand or with a lawnmower looking thing, every once in a while. They have a lot of umbrellas and chairs too. As noted above, sometimes the wait staff will bring you drinks too, but most the time we went to the bar.

The Resort
The resort was very clean and the staff is amazing. They were always there trying to help/get you anything you need. Again, we had a great time with Juan, we loved Alix, and Hector was also super helpful with our bags and getting us transportation when we needed it.

The Resort also has shuttles that will take you to other places, such as the lagoons, a small little shopping center, and some other restaurants. It was all very nice and we had an amazing trip.

I had a really hard time finding the guest services email when I was trying to get info on food plans/golf so here it is for everyone: [email protected]

Overall I would 100% stay here again the next time we come to DR!

The hotel has all the amenities expected. It has a beautiful beach and a great pool, which is open 24 hours. The breakfast and diner in the main restaurant are good, and the service is great. Did not have the opportunity to explore other venues in the property.