As usual, professional helpful staff
Michelle as fab as ever!
Please let the airline know that they need to improve the diabetic meals. It is not only sweet things that need to be reduced but also the amount of carbs.
It was all very good, the room, the meals, and the facilities, including the beach and the service there. We had a good discount for the pool out of action, which did not affect us greatly. The pick up at the airport was rather casual with an old vehicle, but the return was fine.
Great work Gordon and team.
Gordon Hibbert, as ever excellent service
The only slight issue we had was when we arrived in Barbados there didn’t appear to be the private transfer there for us …no one was holding a DialAFlight board up. We eventually got it sorted
We will be using you again.
Flights and hotel really good. Had to get a room upgrade at Sandpiper - but no extra charge.
Everything worked like clockwork. Your local rep was excellent
You always look after us very well
Always a brilliant service
Your service is outstanding and I will be using you again
As always DialAFlight delivered. Recommend to everyone - especially Curtis who knows EXACTLY what we want
Great help finding our holiday - excellent support to book what we wanted and follow through to ensure we were organised to travel
I loved the personal service and the phone call before my flight to make sure everything was OK. Brilliant
Holiday was wonderful but would not go back to Accra Beach Hotel. We were told to ask for upgrade when we got there, as we has stayed twice before, they did not oblige. The room had no balcony and was tired, needed upgrading.
As always can rely on DialAFlight for worry free travel arrangements.
Great hotel, location and the staff were very friendly
Would always trust you to make life easy.
Telephone calls answered swiftly. Staff members courteous and knowledgeable.
I have been using DialAFlight for a few years but had not been away since before the Pandemic. Just used the company again and the standards and customer care is still the same. Excellent!
Keep up the good work.
Had a great trip. Hotels were good standard. All arrangements went smoothly
It was my first time booking with DialAflight and it was a great experience. Thanks to the team for making sure I checked in and asking if I need any help. I will be definitely booking again
Julie Harris is very helpful and keeps in touch
Simple, easy professional. A pleasure to do business with.
Marshall put together the perfect holiday to St Lucia for us. Will definitely return to DialAFlight
Paul Jones provides an excellent service. I couldn’t ask for more.
The House has gone all inclusive which is a big change. But the property Is in need of updating. Sunbeds were a problem as with 100pc occupation there simply not enough. That apart it was a really good break and the all inclusive option certainly helped control the cost on what has become an expensive island.
The lovely Dominican Republic has no fewer than eight international airports.
That's quite a haul for a country with little more than ten million permanent residents, and speaks volumes about its reputation as the all-inclusive capital of the Caribbean. But two hotels are bucking the trend – one on the quiet north coast, the other not far from the flesh-pots of Punta Cana on the island's south-east tip.
Both managed to withstand the hurricanes that swept through the area not long ago.
A LOVE FOR LUXURY
First, a confession: I'm one of the so-called Aman junkies and hope that by the time I check in to the great hotel in the sky, it will have many of the distinctive Aman touches (the Aman luxury hotel group now has 33 destinations in 21 countries).
That means no signage, no muzak, no meal times, no signing of bills with the dreaded 'tip' box left empty, no dress code (though decorum is a given), no manager's cocktail party, no over-manicured gardens.
And above all (now listen up, St Peter), a feeling that the place is empty even when it's full.
VISITING AMANERA
Amanera, near the comely fishing village of San Juan – around an hour's drive from Puerto Plata airport – was the group's 29th outpost, and it's Aman in all its glorious purity, starting with the main building that looks like it's either suspended from the sky by invisible wires or floating above its immediate surroundings like a yogic master.
It's a mix of thin concrete, thick glass and sturdy beech wood, with water, sunken sofas, white tables and chairs and sun loungers everywhere.
There are 25 casitas (little houses) dotted around the hillside, many with their own pool, all looking down on Playa Grande, a sensational mile of golden sand with no other building in sight. It has to be one of the most spectacular beaches in the world, albeit that the Atlantic can throw up some bumper waves.
Like proper mad dogs and Englishmen, we walk in the midday sun to the other end of the beach, where, tucked behind palm trees, is the ravishing Playa Grande Beach Club.
We have a yummy lunch before heading back. There is an Italian influence to the cooking at Amanera, but with a Dominican section on each of the menus.
And for golfers, a championship standard course, with ten holes, is set on cliffs above the sea. To get to the understated spa, you cross the golf course, which, apparently, costs $1,000 to play a round for those not staying at the hotel.
One day, we take a boat excursion to Laguna Gri Gri, a freshwater lagoon lined with mangroves, where we spot white and green egrets, turkey vultures and blue swallows nesting in black coral caves.
DINING OUT
That evening, we eat locally at Babunuco, where a Maestro del Cigarro shows us the process of rolling and pressing a fine cigar. 'We make better cigars than in Cuba,' he assures us.
It's a four-hour drive from Amanera to Eden Roc, an immaculate Relais & Chateaux hotel that opened only four years ago within the gated community of Cap Cana, a mere 15 minutes from Punta Cana airport to where BA flies three times a week.
There are 35 colourful åcasitas (pinks, blues and greens) at the main hotel, and 25 two-bedroom beach apartments.
It's some beach: a sheltered cove with creamy white sand, clear turquoise water, swaying palm trees, the gentlest of swells.
There are two restaurants at the beach, one Peruvian and one broadly Mediterranean, but with a substantial sushi menu. Both are delightful, manned by staff who insist on you having a good time.And you will.
Eden Roc is really two resorts in one. At the main hotel, there's a slinky bar and a more formal restaurant just off the stone-floored lobby, where a cheery Damien Hirst painting has pride of place.
Cap Cana has big plans. Already, there are polo fields, an equestrian centre, a newly-built marina, a magnificent golf course, and villas for sale – if you have upwards of $5 million.
If you don’t, a week or two at this sensational hotel is the next best thing!
First published in the Mail Online - July 2018
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