Our new home away from home.
Literally, because we are now owners of an oceanfront villa with 7 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms, a private infinity pool overlooking the ocean, and all the amenities that come along with being an owner in a resort community in the Caribbean.
If you’d asked me a few months ago when we first booked Addy and Riley’s Graduation trip to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, if I thought I’d love it, I would have said I think I’ll enjoy myself. What I didn’t think I’d say is that I’d love it so much that a week flew by in the blink of an eye, and I wasn’t ready to come home.
Readers, I am always ready to come home by the last night of vacation. I miss my bed. I miss my home. I miss my surroundings. I was not ready to leave our villa. The week we spent there was so undeniably good, from spending so much quality time with our kids and Riley, my in-laws, and my husband, that I just didn’t want to leave. All I know is that saying goodbye was hard, but knowing we can go back as often as we want and be right at home in our own villa made it just a bit easier to say goodbye to all the luxuries we enjoyed in our new home away from home.
Where We Stayed
Our beautiful villa is located in the Lifestyle Holidays Resort Vacation Club resort property. It’s an interesting property that caters to everyone from hotel rooms to condos to massive luxury vacation homes such as the one we now call our own. What I liked about the resort property is the spaciousness of it. The hotel area and the amenities that hotel guests are permitted to use are kept off on their own. The smaller condos have their own area of the resort. Our villa homes are kept in their own neighborhood within the resort that is not accessible to just anyone but those of us who have villa homes and golf carts in which to get around.
There are dozens of beaches and public pool areas to use for those who aren’t in villas with private pools, though those of us with villas are permitted to dine in any restaurant, use any pool, and use any beach. However…we don’t. As owners at the highest level, we have access to the Chairman’s Circle Owner’s Club VIP restaurants, beaches, and pools, where no one else can go, and that’s where it’s at. The restaurants are high-end, the food delicious, the drinks lovely, and the private pools and beaches cater specifically to owners, and that makes it extra special.
Our beautiful villa (which, after upgrading ownership during our stay, will no longer be ours because we now have a much bigger villa), was a dream. With six bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, three floors, and upscale décor, we enjoyed every inch of it. Our backyard featured a private pool, hot tub, outdoor kitchen, and enough seating to easily accommodate a party of 30+ guests, and it features the most beautiful landscaping and views of the mountains behind the beach.
When I tell you our villa has everything, I meant it has everything. A private chef, a daily maid, a concierge, golf carts to get around the resort, every single thing. It was magic.
The Food
The food was spectacular. I will say that having access to the VIP owner’s restaurants is lovely. Every night our meals were decadent, but I’d say my favorite evening was one of our last nights in the villa when our private chef made a big BBQ dinner in our outdoor kitchen. From chickpea salad to potato salad to fresh bread to fresh salads to lobster, shrimp, filet, chicken, salmon, pork, and wings, desserts, wine pairings, to a beautiful place setting on the pool deck table to a server and chef who made sure everything was perfect, it was a dream.
The actual point of the trip
Beyond the beautiful villa and the gorgeous beach views, this trip was about togetherness. Addy leaves for college in a few weeks. Everything is changing, and we wanted this time together to enjoy one another’s company, so we could all spend a little time with Craig’s dad and stepmom, and so we could make memories together that will last a lifetime. And boy did we. It was so hard to say goodbye, both to the DR and to our family as we headed off to the airport to head back to Florida and them to the North Carolina coast.
We spent so much time together. We laughed, we ate, we drank, and we made memories to last a lifetime. And I will tell you this much – our family cannot wait to go back and make even more memories. This trip hit different. Golf cart rides, sunset oceanfront dinners, five kids who actually enjoy one another and us, quality time with my in-laws, and memories that will last a thousand lifetimes.
The weather was flawless our entire trip. Our flights were smooth, early, and quick. There was not one complaint from anyone all week – save for the fact that the wifi is spotty all the time (which is quite nice unless you’re trying to download new books onto your Kindle).
I’m planning a fuller, more in-depth review of the specific restaurants in which we dined, our recommendations in Puerto Plata, as well as a post about what I actually wore while we were traveling and how I went heavy on the high-end, low-end mix.
Tiffany Raiford 