Back from the Dominican Republic

I'M BACK....

The Dominican was hot, beautiful and exhausting. We saw 6 hotels in 1 day in the 95 degree weather, i'm not quite sure how I didn't melt. I had an amazing learning experience and I have a ton of information to share...but, I'll just give my reviews with photos. With video to follow at a later date...

(All hotels are all inclusive properties)

Dreams Palm Beach

The Dreams Palm Beach was the first hotel on our tour. We went straight from the airport to the hotel. The hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport and has a beautiful entryway...The resort is elegant and has great amenities. It has 500 rooms and 6 a la carte restaurant none of which require a reservation as well as a buffet. The guests at this all inclusive do not wear bracelets and have free run of this beautiful property. This property does have a Preferred Club section where the guests have access to a private beach and additional amenities. The rooms are beautifully adorned and can sleep up to 4. I would highly recommend this to those that want a smaller hotel feel with luxury and comfort. Children are welcome and the hotel has a great kid and teen club.

Bahia Principe Ambar

Bahia Principe Ambar is the hotel I stayed at. It's an adult only property and at first sight reminded me of an old plantation. This hotel is 30 minutes from the airport and is at the end of the Bahia Ambar complex. The hotel is new and still has a few small kinks to work on like the airconditioning in the room is not cold enough. However, it is a beautiful property that provides amazing service. This hotel has 528 rooms, private beautiful beach. The hotel provides concierge service, our butler was Jorge and all we had to do was mention a need and he took care of it immediately. It has 4 a la carte restaurants and an international buffet. Reservations are not required for the restaurants. The buffet at breakfast provided a great variety and and the food was very well prepared. The dinners we were served were excellent. The Ambar is a quiet property and if you are looking for a party hotel this is not for you, however you can enjoy the luxury of this property and catch a tram to the Bahia Principe Punta Cana where there is a nightly show and disco available. The room was large and nicely decorated, there are robes, slippers and an umbrella provided in the room. On my last night they place a scented pillow in my room, there is a menu of scents you can choose from and there is turn down service and they place chocolates in the room. For those individuals that had a king bed they had their jacuzzi tub filled with bubbles. I really enjoyed staying at the and would recommend this for couple of all ages looking for great service and a quiet hotel with the option of a party.

Dream Punta Cana
The Dreams Punta Cana is about 20 minutes from the airport and pure luxury. The hotel has 500 rooms that are luxurious with all the modern amenities. Dreams Punta Cana has the largest swimming pool in the Dominican and a lazy river. The white sand beach made me want to take my shoes of and run into the crystal clear water. The hotel has 7 a la carte restaurants and a buffet. None of the restaurants require a reservation. They provide their guest with domestic and international beverages. This hotel is kid friendly offering both a club for kids and teenagers. I would recommend this hotel for those seeking a warm hotel fell with luxury.
Moon Palace

The Moon Palace is about 25 minutes from the airport. The Moon Palace is not a warm and cozy hotel. This hotel is large and modern and definitely has a purpose. If you want a small islandy hotel do not go the Moon Palace. However, if you want air conditioned lobbies and sleek and modern decor. this is for you. If you want full service spa and gym and hair salon like you would find in Manhattan then this is for you. The Moon Palace is a great place for large groups and large conventions. This hotel is in the process of completing its casino which will be able to compete with any in Vegas and also in the process of finalizing contracts which will allow them to bring in famous entertainers. I spent years working on Paradise Island and this hotel reminds me very much of the Atlantis. I loved this hotel, I would definitely recommend this hotel to my clients that want modern and elegant.

Barcelo Premium Punta Cana

The Barcelo Premium Punta Cana is about 25 minutes from the airport. It's located on the beautiful white sandy beach in Bavaro. The hotel has 798 rooms and is great for singles, couples and families. The hotel sits on a large property but you don't feel lost in the size. The hotel rooms are spacious and beautifully decorated. The hotel offers 6 a la carte and they will require a reservation. There are activities available such as a circus trapeze to keep you and your children entertained. I would recommend this hotel to families and couples and singles...

Iberostar Grand

The Iberostar properties are well known and are very popular. The Iberostar Grand an adults only resort that is the perfect balance of luxury and comfort. The hotel has 260 suites. 4 a la carte restaurants, a buffet and a snack bar at the beach. This hotel is great for couples and singles looking for fun and relaxation. The hotel features a night club on a pirate ship. We ate lunch at the Iberostar Beach Grill, generally beach grill restaurants serve hot dog's hamburgers pizza, pasta. This beach grill had a great variety food including caviar and a large selection of seafood and meats. The food was delicious and very well prepared. I just got back from the Iberostar Tucan in Riviera Maya, that was a great property and my son and I had a blast. I would definitely go to the Iberostar Grand with my boyfriend, because I know the Iberostar service would be great.

Majestic Colonial and Elegance

The Majestic Colonial and Elegance are two identical properties that offer their guests identical amenities. The hotel is about 40 minutes from the airport. The hotel offers a jacuzzi in everyone of their 547 rooms. The hotel has 5 a la carte restaurants and 2 buffets. The hotel has a kids and teens club and a night club for the adults. The rooms are beautiful and the hallways are filled with art by local artists. This hotel is great for couples and families.

Ocean Blue

The hotel is about 30 minutes from the airport. My first impression of the Ocean Blue was nice but not spectacular. All the hotels visited were a 5 Apple or higher. The Ocean Blue was inviting and I really liked the way the hotel was organized, even though it was a large hotel (708rooms) it was very easy to get from the restaurants to the rooms and to the beach. The rooms were nice but not amazing. The beach and the pool was great. What appealed to me about this hotel was different elements like the bowling alley and the cute restaurants like the diner.

I would recommend this hotel to families and people just looking for a nice hotel.

Melia

The Melia is about 25 minutes from the airport and is the largest hotel we saw. The best way to get around Melia is by their tram.
This hotel is perfect for families. They are one of the few hotels that offers family rooms that can sleep 5 and their family rooms have a playstation 3 in the rooms. What this hotels offers that the other do not is childcare starting at 9 months for no additional cost. I was at first a bit overwhelmed by the size of this hotel because personally I prefer smaller hotels, however Melia won me over. I would definitely want to vacation here and would love to send my families to this hotel. What I loved besides the beautiful beach and pool area were the activities offered to the kids such as zip line (addition $6.00 per day for the different activities, but definitely worth the cost. We ate lunch at their buffet, the selection was large and the food was delicious. I would recommend this to all.

Additional Information:

All the sites were available for weddings, they all have both gazebos and beach setting available.

The majestic also has a small chapel on the property that they use for wedding.

All the hotels have on site spas and gyms

The following hotels have Casinos:

Bahia Principe

Dreams Punta Cana

Dreams Palm Beach

Ocean Blue

Majestic

Barcelo

I'm glad I can bring back my feed back to everyone.

I hope you find it helpful.

Bye

Running lost

Soccer has officially started spent all last weekend in Rockford (90 minutes from home) at the seeding tournament. I was exhausted by the end of the weekend and no work got done. I got an email last week from a friend letting me know that another friend was coming into town and wanted to get together. The problem is that the person coming into town was one of my closests friends and about a year ago she just disappeared out of my life, stopped calling. She was going through personal issues and I must have been the only one that told her the truth. I have never been able to stand back and let a friend hurt themselves without speaking up. I always thought that's what friends were for. I guess not everyone wants to hear the truth and would rather live in fantasy land. I was so torn about going on Sunday, but I broke down and went. It was wierd and she knew I was upset and hurt. I didn't say a word, there were two other women there and I didn't think it was an appropriate coversation in front of a group of people. My boyfriend was pissed I didn't tell her how I felt at dinner. It's hard especially since I understand why she disappeared. I know she has been in a bad place for a long time, with her marriage and then with child custody issues with her ex. I have been there, when I was married I disappeared on all my friends for years, I was embarrassed that I was so low and didn't want to talk to any one.

When we said our good byes, I told her to call me because we need to talk. My boyfriend doesn't think she's going to call, maybe not, but at this point I don't even think I care. She can't hurt me a second time.

Business is slow. Don't know how to pick up new weddings. I have the bridal show coming up, but i've had a mental block on how to prepare for it. I am so close to just going back to school getting my teaching degree and getting a real job. I just need a bit of security.

My Vacation is Over

My vacation has officially ended, soccer has started. I have spent every evening from 5 - 7:30 this week at the practice field with Maurice, and there is more this evening as well as a tournament about an hour from home all weekend. I love my son, but I can't wait for him to start driving so I don't have to sit through 2 hours of practice 4 days a week.

Spent a few hours with the couple getting married in October yesterday. She is leaving everything up to me including choosing the unity candle, bridesmaid dresses and flower girl dresses. I'm hoping this wedding goes over really well and I get a ton of referrals from it.

The travel business is painfully slow, really thinking about turing it into purely a destination wedding business.

Daily Wedding Tip: Create a wedding website to chronicle the planning

Friday Morning

Good morning everyone:


It's Friday morning, I have two loads of laundry in and i've done my daily wedding and travel tip.

Now what? I know I have a ton to do, but all I want to do is sleep, it is so miserable looking outside.

But, ok i'll start the phone call and scheduling. I need to figure out how to grow the destination wedding clientelle and I need to prepare for a bridal show. No idea, what i'm going to hand out there.

Daily Wedding Tip: In lieu of centerpieces adorn the table with mini wedding cakes.

Daily Travel Tip: Riviera Maya Square Deal starting at $549.99. Call Around the World Travel 847-419-9810

New Tips:

Victoria's Daily Wedding Tip: For the groom, don't limit yourself to the tuxedo. A great suit (dark or light colored depending on the season) for a formal wedding is just as elegant.

I am trying so hard to get into work mode. When we got back I learned that my 88 year grandmother was finally in the nursing home. I went to visit her early Saturday morning and the minute I walked in there tears came to my eyes. Not only was it horrible to see my dad's mom sitting there (my father died 6 years ago) but I could see my life flash before my eyes. It doesn't matter that i'm 35 I could see into my future and it scared me. After my dad died at such a young age, it put fire under my ass. He was the last person you would expect to get sick and die. He was so healthy and he still got pancreatic cancer. After his death, early death became a reality in my life. Before that it happened to other people never us, now I realize it can happen to us.

I've always been motivated, but after his death my I have this new urgency and almost a choking fear that I live with and fight daily. I am generally the person people come to for calmness and for rationality yet, I can't seem to be completely rational when it comes to this. On top of the urgency it made me colder to death and illness. I am definitely less empathetic.

The goal is to really enjoy my life and watch my son turn into hopefully an amazing adult.

Wish me luck!!!

More Playa del Carmen

Good morning everyone!!!

I know I wrote a long review yesterday. Today I wanted to share a story.

Maurie and I took a cab to Playa Del Carmen from our hotel. It was a 5 minute cab ride and I saw all these people walking. We walked around Playa, we've been there a few times and he's a 13 year old boy so not the most exciting outing. I bought him a small $8.00 strawberry milkshake and I got an ice coffee. On the way back I thought it would be fun to walk back to the hotel. I was like it's a 15 minute walk, it will be fun. Well I was wrong, 15 minutes turned into 45 minutes in 105 degree weather direct sunlight, no breeze and flip flops on boiling hot cobble stones. We barely spoke on the way back. When we finally made it back to the hotel, we sprinted for the bar, sucked down ice cold drinks and staggered back to our room for airconditioning. I was wearing a white tank top and looked like I just walked out of a wet t-shirt contest and his shirt was drenched. I sat on the bed for 5 minutes and when I stood up to change into my bathing suit, my knees buckled, we laughed so hard, we had tears coming out of our eyes. I think it was hilarious Maurice not so much.

Victoria's Daily Wedding Tip: Give a step child a ring (or another token) to signify they are part of the union.

Back from Iberostar Tucan Riviera Maya

Hi Everyone,

We're back from our amazing family vacation at the Iberostar Tucan in Riviera Maya. Maurice and I had a great time. We did nothing more then eat, drink, swim, tan and sleep. This was our first time at the Iberostar and I had read a ton of reviews, for the most part the reviews were favorable and I felt comfortable that we would like the property. As a travel agent i've been lucky enough to travel to numerous resorts in Mexico and have a pretty good idea how the all inclusives function.

We arrived at the resort around noon and had an easy and quick check in. Once we checked in we made our way to our room. We walked about 3 minutes through a jungle setting to our building which was right near the pool and steps from the beach. Our room was on the 3rd floor, it was large and comfortable appointed with 2 beds and a separate sitting area with a couch and table with chairs. The view from our balcony was of the jungle and all the animals it holds.

The beach was amazing, it had the best beach out of all the resorts we have been too. No rock, crystal clear water, a place to hide from the sun. This was a great beach. The pool was warm and clean. There was a large selection at the buffets at breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was plenty of seafood and the cookies were delicious. We had dinner 3 of the nights at the a la carte restaurants: Asian, Mexican and Italian. The food was great in all 3 but the Italian was my favorite. They had a great selection of appetizers. The service in the restuarants for the most part was good, there were a few quirks like, not getting a coffee refill one morning and no water at lunch one day. Other then that the restaurant service was good.

The maids did a great job cleaning our room. When reading the reviews they all had one thing in common, they all mentioned that the beds were hard and they did not lie, the beds were unbelievable hard, but it didn't stop us from passing out at the end of the day from being on the beach all day. They created little towl people daily.

For me the best part of the resort was all the wildlife. I loved looking out our balcony and seeing the monkeys sitting on the railing. I loved having to walk past the peacocks to get to dinner and I really just enjoyed our stay.

We came back relaxed and tanned. Would I recommend this hotel to my clients yes.

Would I recommend this to my clients for a destination wedding yes!!! There is nothing more beautiful then barefoot in the sand...

Victoria's Daily Wedding Tip: Serve a midnight snack of popcorn in a vintage style popcorn carton.