Punta Cana Investment News and Opportunities : Foreign Investment News, Things to do

Ikea store to ratchet competition among Dominican retailers

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:10:00 GMT

Santo Domingo.- The Ikea department store will open its doors to Dominican shoppers tomorrow Wednesday with an attractive catalogue featuring furniture and some major appliances.

Since 2008 the Swedish multinational company began construction with president Leonel Fernandez heading the groundbreaking near the Americana department store, on Kennedy avenue, becoming the retail giant’s first outlet in Latin America.

The store, maker of furniture and of decorative articles was built at a cost of more than US$85 million, created 563 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect ones.

It’s expected to spur competition, and provide better deals for shoppers, who can also benefit from its reasonably priced restaurant and a playground for the kids.

The president of Ikea for Dominican Republic and Canary Islands, Anders Alm, is reportedly a resident of the resort region Punta Cana (east).

Written by: Mikey Terc

JetBlue adds new nonstop flights for Dominican Republic golf vacations

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:09:00 GMT

Punta Cana.– JetBlue will begin offering daily nonstop flights, year round, between Punta Cana and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, making golf vacations that much more convenient.

On May 8, the company will begin offering nonstop, Saturday flights between Punta Cana and Boston’s Logan International Airport.

To celebrate the new routes, JetBlue is offering these flights at $99 each way if booked by February 1 for travel between May 8 and June 12.

NH opens second hotel in Dominican Republic

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:06:00 GMT

Santo Domingo.– The group NH Hotels and Resorts inaugurated its second property, the NH Royal Beach Hotel, in the Dominican Republic.

The company entered the Dominican market in early 2008, when it opened the NH Real Arena Hotel. The two establishments are located in Punta Cana, some 15 kilometers from the Punta Cana International Airport. The new hotel is included in the Luxury Resort category.

The NH Royal Beach Hotel offers 369,53-square-meter rooms and four 118-square-meter suites. The hotel also has a spa, gym and sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts.

In addition, it offers several meeting halls where businesspeople can hold conferences and congresses, among others activities.

Hard Rock International announces the first ultimate all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:03:00 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla., PRNewswire.- Hard Rock International and Palace Resorts today announced an agreement to bring the world's first "ultimate all-inclusive" Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Slated to be re-branded in Spring 2010, the 1800-room Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana will combine the distinctive atmosphere and unparalleled guest experience of the Hard Rock brand together with the five-star Moon Palace Resort all-inclusive experience.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana's expansive 121-acre property rests on Macao Beach, one of the most beautiful, palm tree-lined beaches in the Caribbean that overlooks perfectly clear blue waters on the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic. The property will combine Hard Rock's signature "Rock Star" suites with Moon Palace Resort's signature all-inclusive luxury accommodations, including double Jacuzzis and double showers. The property will also feature an extensive collection of Hard Rock's authentic music memorabilia, highlighting both international and local artists, as well as incorporating diverse music genres throughout.

"We're eager to bring the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino brand to the Dominican Republic, and we look forward to establishing this property as a premier vacation and gaming destination in the Caribbean," said Hamish Dodds, president and CEO, Hard Rock International. "Our collaboration with Palace Resorts and their track record of creating the best all-inclusive resorts in the Americas, we are confident this project will be a success."

"We are very excited to develop the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana," adds Roberto Chapur, President of Palace Resorts, owners of Moon Palace. "Hard Rock has brought excitement to many destinations throughout the world and we are thrilled that the brand has chosen the Dominican Republic for its next project. We look forward to working with Hard Rock to create the most exciting hotel and casino concept in the Caribbean."

"Punta Cana is a world-class location and one of the Caribbean's top travel destinations, and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana is a perfect complement to the region," said Dominican Republic Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia. "I am confident that Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana will have a significant economic impact on our country's growing tourism."

Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos are ideally situated in destinations with unique character and appeal, and cater to the evolving and distinctive needs of today's savvy traveler, who seeks a reprieve from traditional, predictable properties. Hard Rock properties offer stylish and contemporary design, unparalleled service and the thread that unites them all - music.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana will feature one of the largest casinos in the Caribbean with more than 48,000 square feet of gaming space. The casino plans to offer a high-limit poker room, a VIP lounge and a Race and Sports Book, in addition to 457 slots and 40 tables, where guests can try their hand at traditional Las Vegas-style gaming, including Baccarat, Black Jack, Craps and Roulette.

"As one of the world's most successful gaming operators, we look forward to bringing the excitement of U.S.-style gaming and our industry expertise to the Dominican Republic," said Jim Allen, Chairman, Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment. "Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana will quickly become the premier gaming destination in the Carribean."

The property will be fully equipped to handle the largest events, from full-sized rock 'n' roll performances, to small, intimate occasions. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana will feature more than 65,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, equipped with state-of-the-art technology. For those looking to celebrate a rockin' romance, the hotel will have numerous eye-catching locations throughout the resort, including three floating wedding pavilions.

Guests will be able to enjoy 11 expansive pools, four swim-up bars, a dedicated kids pool and a lazy river. The 15,000 square-foot Body Rock fitness center, the Xtreme Center's rock climbing wall, two tennis courts, mini-golf, billiards, ping pong and various other table games will keep even the most active guests entertained. Hard Rock's smallest guests will also have the benefit of a dedicated Kids Club offering daily activities and childcare services. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana's guests will have access to an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course spread over 155 acres with 7,200 yards of amazing golf.

Retail outlets, including Hard Rock's signature Rock Shop, a 1,200-seat amphitheater and the Caribbean's most expansive spa, will round out the vacation experience. Hard Rock's signature "Rock Spa" is an incredible 60,000 square-foot facility with 48 spa suites, including 11 total indoor and outdoor couples' suites and two Golden VIP Suites, and one of the world's most complete hydrotherapy circuits. Additional services include a Beauty Salon with kids' salon services and a wedding suite.

JetBlue Airways Announces Plans to Serve Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:09:00 GMT

Press Release
JetBlue Airways Announces Plans to Serve Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
12.16.09, 11:08 AM ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) has applied for authority from the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide new international service to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Boston's Logan International Airport (a).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090217/NY71475LOGO-b)

Punta Cana would be JetBlue's fourth destination in the Dominican Republic, where the airline has grown substantially in recent years to become the nation's #1 airline (b). JetBlue intends to begin daily nonstop flights year-round between Aeropuerto Internacional de Punta Cana and New York/JFK on May 6, 2010, and nonstop weekly flights (on Saturdays) from Boston's Logan International, on May 8, 2010 (a).

"Massport congratulates JetBlue on Punta Cana, its most recently announced destination from Boston Logan International Airport,'' said Ed Freni, Director of Aviation for the Massachusetts Port Authority. "JetBlue flies nonstop to 35 destinations from Boston and Punta Cana is its ninth Caribbean destination from Boston.''

JetBlue will operate its Punta Cana service with spacious 150-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. The A320 offers travelers all of the amenities for which JetBlue has become well-regarded: complimentary seatback television programming including free first-run movies, comfortable leather seats, the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline (c), unlimited free snacks and industry-leading customer service.

"Today JetBlue is proud not only to be launching a fourth destination in the Dominican Republic, but also announcing our 35th nonstop destination from Boston," said Scott Laurence, JetBlue's vice president of network planning. "We are very happy with our operations in the Dominican Republic and look forward to continuing our growth and sharing the JetBlue Experience - complete with free snacks, drinks, seatback TVs and friendly service - with more travelers to and from the island."

About JetBlue Airways

New York-based JetBlue Airways has created a new airline category based on value, service and style. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue is now pleased to offer customers Lots of Legroom and super-spacious Even More Legroom seats. JetBlue introduced complimentary in-flight e-mail and instant messaging services on aircraft "BetaBlue," a first among U.S. domestic airlines. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 53 cities with 600 daily flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583), TTY/TDD 1-800-336-5530 or visit www.jetblue.com.

(a) Routes are subject to receipt of government operating authority.

(b) Largest carrier in terms of ASM (capacity).

(c) JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach, based on average fleet-wide seat pitch for U.S. airlines, excluding premium coach products.

SOURCE JetBlue Airways

Yacht Cana International comes to Dominican Republic

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:07:00 GMT

Punta Cana.– The Dominican Republic, still a virgin market when it comes to the rental and sales of luxury yachts, with multiple maritime locations, great beauty and excellent natural conditions, has caught the interest of Yacht Cana International for the offering of their services, which will intensify the country’s tourism potential making it a de rigueur point for luxury yacht lovers.

Yacht Cana International, which has its headquarters in Puerto Rico and is the exclusive distributor of worldrenowned brands Marquis, Carver and Scout, began its operations at the Cap Cana marina.

With an ample variety of sizes and styles and a service that represents the manufacturer’s after-sales guarantee, the company offers an exceptional maintenance program, taking care of all the little details involved with the ownership of a luxury vessel.

Yacht Cana Charters includes transportation services from the villa or hotel, Captain and crew, fishing equipment and accessories, gourmet lunch, unlimited drinks, refreshments and bottled water, fishing license, all the required slip fees and taxes, as well as an unforgettable fishing adventure aboard a luxury yacht.

Puntacana heads cleanup operation in resorts area

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:06:00 GMT

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. – The Puntacana Resort & Club headed the community clean up operative ‘Clean City’, as part of the environmental education program conducted through his Ecological Foundation.

Puntacana foundations will help Save the Children

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:04:00 GMT

Frank, Fernando Rainieri.

Santo Domingo.- The Puntacana Foundation and the Puntacana Ecological Foundation will collaborate with the organization Save the Children Dominicana, to jointly promote sustainable socio-cultural development in the communities Verón, Punta Cana and Bavaro (east).

Save the Children Dominicana president Fernando Rainieri and Puntacana Foundation and Puntacana Ecological Foundation president Frank Rainieri signed the document, and stressed the joint work on issues of social, community and sustainable development and the conservation of the natural resources in the country’s eastern region.

The agreement firmly pledges to adhere to the principles and norms established in the Children’s Rights Convention, and implement social actions and create opportunities which lead of the development of the children and their relatives.

Fernando Rainieri said the inter-institutional agreement materializes those communities’ legitimate right to sustainable socio-cultural development by bolstering the family unit, allowing it to raise and teach their children.

UNIBE university inaugurated its Cap Cana campus

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:02:00 GMT

Abraham Hazoury, President Fernandez head the ribbon-cutting.

Higuey, Dominican Republic. – The Universidad Latino Americana (UNIBE) inaugurated its Cap Cana campus in the town Punta Cana, in a ceremony headed by president Leonel Fernandez.

Present in the activity were Ligia Amada Melo, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (SEESCYT), and the university’s authorities Abraham Hazoury and Julio Amado Castaños Guzmán, UNIBE’s President of the Council of Regents and Director, respectively.

The Dominican Republic Offers a New Place in the Sun

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:32:00 GMT

By SETH KUGELNEW YORK TIMES | Published: October 29, 2006 I WAKE up in my golden-yellow Oscar de la Renta-decorated, $650-a-night villa, throw off the 350-thread-count sheets, and pad over to open the balcony doors. In floods the Caribbeansunlight, nothing but a long-fronded palm and a patch of manicured grass between me and the sugary sand beach, which gives way to water a shade of aquamarine that I thought had existed only in Crayola boxes.

It’s as if I had woken up in a travel brochure ... or a Corona commercial. But really, it’s just morning in Tortuga Bay, the new luxury resort on the eastern tip of theDominican Republic.My old friend Jon is also up, already fantasizing about his golf game on the P. B. Dye-designed oceanfront course (and, yes, there’s the seventh hole, jutting out into the sea just to my left). It’s a significant change from his dusty jaunts through the public courses of eastern Massachusetts.Meanwhile, I am preparing myself for the salt-scrubbing, Oriental-massaging experience of a $247 Energizing Day Package at the Six Senses Spa, the high-end Asian chain previously only available at destinations like Phuket and the Maldives, where it takes a $247 massage just to recover from your 20-plus hour flight. (Tortuga Bay is just a three-and-a-half-hour flight from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York).But first, breakfast. Sure, just pressing “2” on our direct-to-butler cell phone would summon a feast to the aforementioned balcony, but we’re guys who prefer the high-end gluttony of the breakfast buffet combined with made-to-order omelets and pancakes at the poolside Bamboo Restaurant. It’s just a two-minute walk away. (Still, we take our golf cart.)Just another day in paradise.But great as Tortuga Bay might sound (and some service glitches over the course of our stay made me question just how great it was), this resort, with 50 suites in 15 villas, is just one of a number of high-end getaways that are beginning to call the Dominican Republic home.

The Sanctuary Cap Cana, a boutique hotel with eight restaurants within a larger $500 million development, has a low-key opening scheduled for Feb. 1; before then, Jack Nicklaus will be flying in to open one of his Signature golf courses, with nine of the holes on the water. Farther up the east coast, through picturesque hills and small towns, the Sivory resort, with its 55 terra-cotta-colored suites built into jungle-worthy vegetation (lushness reduced near the suites to avoid bugs) — some right on the beach with their own private plunge pools — is gearing up for its first full winter season.

Time was the Dominican Republic was famous for its bargain getaways: $1,000 for a flight-included, all-inclusive resort where the food was passable, the drinks strong and the merengue music festive. (Actually, that time was only a year or two ago, and the bargains are still there.) But the country is increasingly becoming the five-star playground of the Caribbean, pulling in tourists that might otherwise have gone to Jamaica, Puerto Rico or St. Thomas and gearing up to give the glamour spots of Anguilla, St. Bart’s and Turks and Caicos a run for their money.As the winter season approaches, the Dominican Republic has all but been anointed with “it-destination” status by celebrities, travel magazines and tour operators. It’s estimated that four million people will visit the country this year.

That’s more than double the 1.9 million that came in 1996. And though Canadians and Europeans were the traditional visitors, Americans are fast taking over.With thousands of pricey hotel rooms and luxury second homes planned for the next decade, and paparazzi-drawing celebrities like the Clintons, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Julio Iglesias, Vin Diesel and Brad Pitt popping in for work or play or both, this is only the beginning. The Roco Ki real estate venture will open the Westin Roco Ki Beach and Golf Resort in Punta Cana in winter 2007, and is planning at least seven high-end hotels, in a resort that gives a nod to the Taíno Indians who lived on the island before Columbus arrived. (It financed an archaeological dig on its land before beginning construction and is considering opening a museum nearby with the findings.) It is also a residential community: there was $100 million in sales the day those homes went on the market in April 2005, according to Nick Tawil Fernandez, the chief executive officer.

Cap Cana has about 30,000 acres south of Tortuga Bay, and villas are on sale from $750,000; in addition to the Sanctuary Cap Cana, its marina, whose debut is this December, will eventually have 1,000 slips. And it’s not just on the east coast that all this action is taking place: in Samaná, the paradisiacal peninsula on the north coast visited by humpback whales, the Gran Bahía Príncipe chain is opening no less than four five-star hotels for the winter season.And there is much near-virgin beach still being scoured: Fernando Rainieri, a former tourism secretary and the brother of the Punta Cana pioneer Frank Rainieri, is part of a group of Dominican investors that includes the wealthy Najri family, that bought some beachfront land in 1997 in Miches, the largely undeveloped area between the resorts of Samaná and Punta Cana. They’ve recently been negotiating with a group of American and Canadian investors. (Howard Kerzner, whose company owns the Atlantis resort in theBahamas and many others, recently died in a helicopter crash on his way to scout out land in the north.)How did a country that three decades ago few people considered a beach destination become such an A-list destination?BEACHES The hundreds of miles of sandy shore, much of it seemingly typecast for the role of Paradise, beats every other Caribbean nation but Cuba for length; especially on the east end, the fine white sand and turquoise waters match up for quality as well.

GOLF Fazio, Nicklaus, Dye, they’ve all been there, designed that. (There are more than 20 designer golf courses in use or planned.)

FLIGHTS With five international airports taking in more than a dozen daily nonstop flights from New York City and direct service being offered from an ever-increasing number of other American cities, it’s easy to get there. A contributing factor: New York’s enormous Dominican immigrant community flies back and forth regularly, creating year-round demand and thus increasing options.

THE COCOON EFFECT Tourism in the Dominican Republic has long been all-inclusive. And although many of the new high-end resorts are not, they do provide the same kind of get-away-from-it-all experience travelers in escape mode are often looking for.POOR INFRASTRUCTURE The Dominican Republic’s notoriously bad (and badly marked) roads, dysfunctional power grid and dubious water system had a hand in driving the all-inclusive culture by making it necessary for resort owners to provide a self-sustaining community and thus a huge disincentive to explore the otherwise culturally rich island, home to everything from merengue to Christopher Columbus’s first settlement in the New World.BASEBALL As Dominican baseball superstars like Pedro Martínez, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramírez and Albert Pujols became household names in the United States over the last decade, their country of origin did too.

CELEBRITIES It’s hard to imagine anyone who has brought more boldface names to the Dominican Republic than the designer Oscar de la Renta. To cite one prominent example, he got Hillary Clinton to visit Punta Cana in 1998, and she and Bill have been going back every since. Producing a Miss Universe, Amelia Vega, in 2003, didn’t hurt either.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS The government played a key role in providing tax breaks and other support for the first round of all-inclusive resorts that sprouted in the 1980’s. These days, the secretary of tourism, Félix Jiménez, has a $30 million promotional budget, and through the public relations firm BVK has been blitzing New York and other cities with its Republic of Colors campaign.

TERRORISM AND ANTI-AMERICANISM The Dominican Republic doesn’t have them — or tsunamis — making it an attractive substitute for those fearful of seeking luxury in Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt and the like. “Dominicans are not anti-anything,” said Ellis Pérez, a vice president of Cap Cana and a former secretary of tourism. “We are an open, simple people.”According to Mr. Jiménez, tourists spent $14 millon in the country in 1974; in 2005 his government placed the figure at $3.5 billion. In 1986 just over half a million people visited the country.

In 1996, it was over 1.5 million. And beyond the four million expected this year, the secretary nonchalantly predicts five million for 2007.The Dominican Republic already takes in more tourism dollars than any other country in Latin America exceptMexico and Brazil, according to World Tourism Organization statistics. In the meantime, the importance of sugar, coffee, cocoa and tobacco to the economy has declined. “Tourism has been the motor of the Dominican economy for the last 20 years,” said Fernando Rainieri, the former tourism secretary and current investor in Miches. “In 1980, nobody believed in it and no one wanted to invest in it.”

The tourism industry in the Dominican Republic is focused these days on Punta Cana, which many have compared to Cancún. For better or for worse, the comparison makes sense: like Cancún, in the 1960’s Punta Cana was not on the map. Then, in 1969, a young Frank Rainieri flew with a group of American investors over the isolated, lightly inhabited east coast of the country; by the early 70’s the land was theirs. A 1972 law made investing in tourism a nearly tax-free endeavor, and the government backed the first beach resort, Playa Dorada, which opened on the north coast simultaneously with the Puerto Plata airport in 1980.

The next year Club Med opened in Punta Cana, followed closely by the Spanish hotel company Barceló. The Punta Cana Airport, privately owned and operated by Mr. Rainieri and the Punta Cana Group, opened in 1985 and in 1988 the Puntacana Resort & Club opened. More followed, and through August of this year, according to official Central Bank statistics, 1.26 million foreigners not of Dominican origin (presumably tourists) entered the country through Punta Cana. That is nearly three times as many as flew into Santo Domingo, the capital and by far the country’s biggest city.The country has also been investing in infrastructure.

There is the Tourist Boulevard between Punta Cana and Uvero Alto. Late last month, the Dominican president, Leonel Fernández, was in Punta Cana to meet with hotel owners, and Frank Rainieri suggested they begin thinking about stretching the highway beyond Uvero Alto to Miches. (Which, coincidentally or not, is where his brother Fernando owns land). A highway from Santo Domingo to the beautiful Samaná peninsula is supposed to be completed in 2008, and the airport at Samaná, El Catey International Airport, is to open next month. Not coincidentally, the Gran Bahía Principe resort chain will open about a thousand luxury hotel rooms in the next two months, in four different complexes.With the high-end hordes bearing down upon them, though, hotel operators face a problem: quality of service. Tourism officials and hotel executives all seem to read from the same talking points: the Dominican people are the country’s biggest asset, what with their warm hearts, friendly faces and big smiles. But hand-clapping, merengue-dancing Club Med smiles are one thing; boutique hotel “Let me explain our pillow menu to you” smiles quite another.The flaws during my two days in Tortuga Bay made that all too clear.Sometimes, they were funny: a welcome letter left for Jon and me in our bedroom (with two separate beds, I hasten to point out), read, “Mr. Kugel, thank you again for choosing us for your honeymoon vacation.” But more often they were annoying.

Repeated dial-2 calls to our butler to help us reduce the air-conditioning level from Arctic freeze to Caribbean cooldown produced fruitless advice; we would have shivered through two nights if the comforters Oscar de la Renta chose for us weren’t so cozy. Jon got charged the outside guest rate for a round of golf ($50 extra) even though our butler had made the tee time and it had been confirmed with a letter from management. (And some things even the best of service couldn’t have helped. That pristine view from our balcony covered up a secret: just beyond the shoreline, the precious sand gave way to a bottom so rocky and slippery as to make taking a dip genuinely unpleasant.)Haydée Palmieri, the vice president of hospitality and human resources at Punta Cana (and Frank Rainieri’s wife), acknowledged the flaws in service, though she did point out that Leading Hotels of the World had approved their application in September, making them the second member from the Dominican Republic (along with the Paradisus Palma Real).André Gerondeau, executive vice president for Sol Meliá, which owns the Paradisus, acknowledges that raising the level of service will take time. “Anywhere in the world,” he said, “especially in Latin America, there is a huge gap between people that have resources and those who don’t,” which makes high-end service a problem.

The Dominican Republic is quickly catching up, he said. But still, “if someone has been to Bali, Seychelles, St. Bart’s and then comes to the D.R.,” he said, “they will certainly see a difference. You need to connect with your team members. The overall perception of us versus them is a killer.”Will the Dominican Republic dominate the Caribbean for years to come? Puerto Rico is feeling the heat, having fallen behind it in tourism receipts, if not absolute numbers, in 2004, and is fighting back with a new Tourism and Transportation Strategic Plan. And the stress on beaches, golf, beaches and golf — the themes that dominate the Web site,godominicanrepublic.com and its Republic of Colors campaign, may leave the country open to competition with places like Jamaica, whose advertising and Web site (visitjamaica.com) also stresses people, culture, art, music, food and ecotourism.

This much is safe to say: The secretary of tourism’s prediction of five million visitors in 2007 will very likely come true. Or there will be a lot of really expensive hotel rooms, villas and bungalows lying empty. Correction: Nov. 12, 2006An article on Oct. 29 about new resorts in the Dominican Republic misstated the designer of the golf course at Tortuga Bay, a new resort there. It was designed by P. B. Dye — not by his father, the golfer and course designer Pete Dye.

FROM THE SCRUB COMES A BEHEMOTH

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:26:00 GMT

January 7, 2001

FROM THE SCRUB COMES A BEHEMOTH

By SCOTT NORVELL

IT'S the next Cancun.The label has stuck on Punta Cana. In the travel trade press. On the tongues ofagents. Even in the popular press, it's all you hear about the formerly barreneastern tip of the Dominican Republic. That, and phrases like ''hot spot of theCaribbean'' and ''top emerging international destination.''

It's too bad, becausePunta Cana and Cancun, in Mexico, couldn't be more different. Except maybe intheir histories and, if a handful of major tour operators have their say, intheir growth patterns.

Thirty years ago Cancunwas a fishing village with about 100 permanent residents. Thirty years agoPunta Cana was a handful of fishing huts fronting a gold sand beach shelteredfrom the treacherous currents of the Mona Passage by a small barrier reef.Cancun now gets upward of 2 million visitors a year. Last year, the Punta Canaairport served 1.3 million passengers.

There end thesimilarities.

Turn-of-the-centuryCancun is high-rises and chain restaurants. Punta Cana circa mid-October 2000is hotel buildings no higher than the palm trees shading them (by law) and ahandful of pleasantly seedy eateries.

Cancun is dozens ofhigh-rise hotels crammed on a narrow sandy strip. Punta Cana is nearly 30resorts spread out over hundreds of square miles of still scrubby former cattlefarms. Cancun is crowds and urban mayhem. In Punta Cana, 15 minutes ofmeandering on the sand will get you to a semideserted beach.

But things are changingquickly in Punta Cana. Signs of an encroaching Tropical Paradise -- golfcourses, time shares, beachfront vendor villages -- are everywhere, and thereremains plenty of room to grow. Julio Iglesias and Oscar de la Renta have puttheir names and money behind a 55-lot shoreside residential development calledCorales de Punta Cana, where construction of high-end houses and a boutiquehotel is already under way.

During a recent longweekend, I discovered what appears to be a tourism juggernaut in the making,but one not quite ready for the North American mass market and one sorelydevoid of the character that makes the rest of the Dominican Republic soenchanting.

Europeans have knownabout Punta Cana for more than a decade, and at the thatched-roof airport therecharter airlines with names like Hapag Lloyd, Britannia and Condor disgorgethousands of pale Europeans each week, scooping them up a week or two later,lobster-colored and sporting braids.

The European-ownedresorts cater mostly to that audience in both large and small ways. In additionto Spanish, the staff is more likely to speak French or Italian than English.Meals tend to be served late, and the dance clubs (still called discos) don'topen until 11:30 or midnight. Washcloths are few and far between. Breakfastbuffets are heavy on cold cuts, hard rolls and soft cheese. Expect to see farmore skin on the beaches and at the pools than one would in, say, FortLauderdale.

Most of Punta Cana'sresorts are all-inclusive. The big ones are remarkably similar, usuallycomprising a collection of two- or three-story lodges buffered by immaculategardens of bougainvillea, hibiscus and yellow allamanda. Huge, meanderingswimming pools and some form of a swim-up bar with an adjacent restaurant arestandard. All meals are included, and rum, beer and wine flow freely at allhours of the day.

The resorts' beaches arealso fairly consistent: about 30 yards of light sand pocked with lounge chairs,open-air masseuse huts and palm trees, bordered by waveless blue-green water.The beaches themselves are not as dazzling as some in the Caribbean but offer amix of shade and sun because of the trees, and are spotlessly clean after theresort workers have scraped up the seaweed that washes ashore each morning.Beach amenities consist of a few sailboats, a dive shack, some wind surfboardsand waverunners. Only nonmotorized activities are included in a resort'spackage price.

A consequence of allthis inclusiveness, intended or not, is that it ends up being all-exclusive,too. Minibuses whisk visitors from the airport past scrawny dogs, livestock andclapboard shacks through the resorts' guarded gates to a soulless Anywhere,Caribbean. If guests are content with poolside aerobics, beach bumming andbuffet dinners, they never have to leave until it's time to go home. They don'teven need to exchange money.

That's a shame, becausethe D.R., as it's affectionately known, warrants more than that. This countrycan be exasperating, infuriating even, but seeing it is worth the effort. Whileit doesn't produce the awe of the Andes or have the color of Guatemala or thecuisine of Oaxaca, the Dominicans make up for all that with an unparalleledsense of fun. No one in Latin America knows how to celebrate like theDominicans.

I attended a universityin the D.R. for several months in the mid-1980's and developed a strong tastefor it, for its aged rums, its rice and beans (which I ate for lunch almostevery day for six months) and the magical merengue of Juan Luis Guerra. Goingback every few years, for work or play, is like visiting an old friend, and anopportunity I never pass up.

The Punta Cana airportis off-putting at first, but turns out to possess an ingenious design in thesehurricane-prone tropics. It has no walls, and reinforced steel beams are toppedoff with the dried cana leaves from which Punta Cana gets its name. In highwinds the thatch blows off, leaving a skeleton that offers no wind resistance.I had plenty of time to admire the design since it took the porters 30 minutesto move the luggage from our flight 100 yards down the runway and into theterminal.

A chipper tour companyescort, Robert Roosevelt, steered me and a dozen or so others to one of severalminibuses waiting outside. Then, as we whizzed through the countryside, Robertwarned against drinking the water lest we wanted to spend our vacation ''in arumble.'' He also let us in on another secret: pina coladas are made withcoconut milk, which is a laxative. Think about it, he said.

The Barcelo Palace,about a 20-minute drive north of the airport and one of five hotels inBarcelo's 1,300-room Punta Cana complex, was my destination. Three of thehotels -- the Palace, the Beach and the Garden -- overlook the beach; theCasino and Golf hotels sit slightly inland. Each has its own pool andrestaurant and shares discos and beach amenities.

In all five hotelsopen-air lobbies and restaurants are clustered around pools, and guest roomsare scattered in several low, U-shaped buildings. All the rooms have privatebalconies or terraces overlooking the gardens or the beach, but theground-floor terraces hardly seem worth the effort.

My room at the Palace,the priciest of the Barcelo bunch, was done up in mass-market tropic, with arattan dresser, pastel-striped bedspreads, and balcony offering a stunning viewof the coastline. The minibar was crammed with free soft drinks, beer and water(which was restocked daily), the air-conditioning did its job swiftly, and toucheslike a gift-wrapped bottle of rum, terrycloth robes and an electronic safe madea pleasant first impression. An intact king-size bed was a surprise; usually Iexpect to get two singles scrunched together when I ask for a double bed inLatin America.

The satellite TV hadalmost as many German, Italian and French stations as it did English andSpanish ones. And there is one channel that by day broadcasts benign fare butin the evening switches automatically to the soft-core Playboy Channel.

But I didn't spend muchtime in the room. Everything at the resort was wide open to the elements, mostof the buildings wall-less and topped with thatch. The bright green lawnsbetween the six buildings felt like wrestling mats underfoot, and wereseparated from the beach by a wide sidewalk equipped with showers. The focalpoint was a pool that meandered over what seemed like acres, incorporating afountain, whirlpool, a couple of islands and a swim-up bar. Dinner alone at aresort is never fun, and attentive service usually makes it worse. Such was thecase at the Palace. From the hostess: ''When will your companion be arriving?''From the waiter: ''And what will the senora be drinking?'' From another waiter:''May I light your candle please, senor? Muy romantico.''

The food wasunremarkable. There was a full grill with chefs cooking unappealing-lookingbeef cuts and a pasta station that seemed a little better, but I stuck with thesteam tables (brochettes, mutton, fish fillets, chewy calamari and only one ortwo vegetables) and a salad bar with pretty slim pickings. At the door, thehostess handed me a Hall's cough drop for an after-dinner mint.

There is an a la carteFrench restaurant on the grounds, but it costs extra (heavy on seafood, withentrees in the $15-to-$25 range and an exclusively French wine list) andreservations are difficult on short notice. (During my stay it was full onSaturday and closed on Sunday.)

The evening show at theCasino resort, called Tropicalissimo (entrance and a rum drink free, ofcourse), was a riot of Carmen Miranda props and bare buttocks. Beautiful womenin feather headdresses and trim men in tights paraded around slowly to oldDominican folk songs or did that merengue thing where they swing their hipsinto a blur while keeping their backs and torsos immobilized. It wasembarrassing to watch the guests try to do the same thing in the disco later.

The breakfast buffet wasan improvement over dinner. While heavy on Euro-fare like cold cuts and cheese,there were also waffles, crepes and pancakes, cereal and fresh fruit galore.The best part was the first real Dominican fare I had seen at the resort, thebatido. It's basically a smoothie made with milk or water, ice, sugar and freshcantaloupe, pineapple, watermelon or papaya.

For resort aficionados,there is no lack of activities at any of Punta Cana's hotels. The offshorereefs are colorful but not breathtaking, although they are treacherous enoughto have brought down a few boats over the decades, making scuba diving arewarding way to while away a morning or two. The afternoon breezes areconsistent enough for windsurfing, but snorkeling off the beach everywhere butin the roped-off swimming areas can be terrifying because of the constantmotorboat traffic.

As one easily bored bysuch fare, I vowed to get off the reservation one day and find the D.R. I knowand love. That's when things get tricky for the noninitiated. Even if you don'tspeak a word of Spanish beyond cerveza, in the resorts you will get by. Butonce you're off the resort, it's a different story.

Punta Cana is not quiteready for nonpackage tourists. There are plenty of canned tours -- ''safaris''to sugar cane plantations; excursions to the capital, Santo Domingo; catamaranrides to offshore islands, and whale-watching trips in Samana Bay during themating season (from January through March) -- but none of them put you more intouch with the Dominican Republic than would a ride at Epcot.

For that, I persuaded arepresentative of the travel company to take me to a whitewashed dive of arestaurant he knew about near what passes for the center of Punta Cana, downthe road from the Plaza Bavaro shopping center. Named for the fisherman whoowns it, Matru, the place was quintessentially Dominican -- down to thestraight-backed chairs, tatty plastic tablecloths and jar of toothpicks on thetable. You had to drive over a horrible, unpaved road to get to it.

We ordered by marchinginto the kitchen in an adjoining building, smelling the shrimp to make surethey were fresh (they were), picking out a snapper longer than my forearm froma pile on ice and snatching a couple of ice-cold Presidente beers from acooler. Retiring to the open-air dining room, we waited. And waited. Andwaited.

Food rarely arrivesquickly in the Dominican Republic, but in this case the wait was worthwhile. Aone-pound pile of huge boiled shrimp came first, then the snapper, splitlengthwise, sprinkled with spices and broiled whole. Outstanding. The onlything missing was the beans and rice, an omission for which the white-hairedcook on duty that day apologized profusely.

At the resorts, I neverfound a meal like this. I scoured the buffets of three Barcelo hotels over thecourse of three days without seeing the fried plantains known as tostones orbeans and rice at any of the steam tables. ''And you won't,'' a travel companyemployee told me.

Luckily, he was wrong.On my last morning at the Palace I asked the waiter at the poolside bar whatthe staff ate for lunch every day. The answer was what I had hoped: arroz and habichuelas(soupy red beans, simmered with garlic, oregano, onions and cilantro, thenladled over white rice), tostones and hard bread.

When I asked for it thewaiter looked at me oddly but seemed genuinely pleased. ''Buen provecho,'' hesaid. Indeed.

Guide to rooms and ratesin a tropical spot

Reservations

Two wholesalers, AppleVacations and Travel Impressions are the main purveyors of vacation packages inPunta Cana, Dominican Republic. Since both sell only through travel agents,they do not provide phone or fax numbers, but they offer general information onthe Web about visiting Punta Cana and other destinations. Apple Vacations, 7Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, Pa. 19073; www.applevacations.com. TravelImpressions, 465 Smith Street, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735;www.travelimpressions.com.

Prices below are perperson for all-inclusive vacations (except at the Punta Cana Beach Resort,where meals are not included) through January -- through April in the case ofthe Barcelo Palace -- from Kennedy Airport in New York with Travel Impressionsand from Newark International with Apple. Air fare and tax are included.

Hotels

The Barcelo Palace,(888) 228-2761, fax (809) 686-5680, is part of the Barcelo Beach Resort, whichhas five separate hotels differing in caliber and price. The Palace has 594rooms, the best overlooking the beach from the east end of each of its sixthree-story buildings. With Apple, rates run from $1,029.99 for a three-nightpackage to $1,559.99 for a seven-night package, including golf.

The landscaping at the522-room Melia Caribe Tropical, (809) 221-1290, fax (809) 686-7699, stands outas the lushest, sprinkled with dozens of small, man-made lagoons, but many ofthe guest rooms seem too far from the beach, and the Greek-Roman decor gives itan out-of-place Las Vegas feeling. Three- to seven-night packages from $629.99to $929.99 are available through Apple. Seven-night suite packages from $1,326are offered by Travel Impressions.

At Melia's more upscaleoption, the 434-room Paradisus, (809) 687-9923, fax (809) 687-0752,all-inclusive extends to drinks in the bars, horseback riding (extra feeseverywhere else) and scuba diving. The spotless lobby bathrooms have freshorchids next to the washbasins. Apple's packages of from three to seven nightscost from $789.99 to $1,299.99. Travel Impressions has a seven-night packagefor $1,490.

Natura Park, (809)221-2626, fax (809) 221-6060, is billed as the area's eco-friendly hotel,apparently because its developers decided not to drain the adjacent mangroveswamp. The grounds are more compact than the others, which means more of its524 rooms are closer to the beach, but the hotel uses European-style 220-voltoutlets while everyone else in the country is on 110. There are threerestaurants, four bars and a swim-up bar. Three- to seven-night packages arefrom $599.99 to $879.99 through Apple. With Travel Impressions, three to sevennights cost from $728 to $1,207.

Punta Cana Beach Resort,(809) 221-2262, fax (809) 687-8745, is a 400-room resort on its own beach, withfive restaurants and several bars. All rooms are scheduled to be renovated byyear's end, and an 18-hole golf course is scheduled to open this month. Apple'sthree- to seven-night packages are $449.99 to $699.99, Travel Impressions' $565to $735. To both must be added tax plus $35 a day for breakfast and dinner.

Local Haunts

El Pescador Matru, arestaurant, sits at the base of a dirt road in the El Cortecito neighborhoodnear Playa Bavaro. It is open Thursday to Sunday for lunch and early dinner; atother times at the whim of its owner, a local fisherman. The menu depends onthat morning's catch. Those who don't speak Spanish would be well advised toseek a guide. Lunch for two with an appetizer and several beers is about $35.

Another favorite ofoff-duty hotel managers in the area is the Huracan Cafe, also in El Cortecito,(809) 221-6643. An open-air dining room and bar overlooks the beach. The menuis a curious mix of burgers, Tex-Mex staples and local seafood. Dinner for twowith drinks and dessert will cost about $40. SCOTT NORVELL

Affordable Caribbean: Dominican Republic

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:24:00 GMT

October28, 2007

BySETH KUGEL

Samaná,the gnarled finger of a peninsula on the northeastcoast of the DominicanRepublic, has always been a beautiful place.Green roller-coaster hills are hometo picturesque farms on the interior, andlazy beach towns dot the shore,drawing Europeans — especially the French —willing to make the lengthy andrugged drive from the country’s major airports.

Witha faster highway now under construction, and a newairport in Samaná, high-endresorts are starting to move in. But there arestill plenty of bargains to befound on the peninsula’s long beaches and in itslush interior, especiallyaround the main resort town, Las Terrenas, wherehotels prefer cash payments inUnited States dollars, and tourists get aroundon all-terrain vehicles ormotorbike-taxis.

Whereto Stay

It’shard to imagine a better bargain than Eva Luna (CalleMarico; 809-978-5611;www.villa-evaluna.com), a French-run hotel in LasTerrenas. The villas, two ofwhich cost $100 a night, are exemplars of the artof rustic luxury, with stylishinteriors painted in toned-down Caribbean colorsso soothing they practicallymassage the eyes. Private terraces and a swimmingpool surrounded by palms are abonus.

Onthe lazier Playa Bonita, an old-timer, the Hotel Atlantis(Beach Road;809-240-6111; www.atlantis-hotel.com.do), offers large roomsstarting at $67during the winter high season. And finally, for those seekingisolation andwilling to pay a bit more for it, Casa Cosón (Playa Cosón;809-374-2993;www.casacoson.com), a gorgeous beachfront house run by a(non-English-speaking)French couple, has four bright and playfully decoratedrooms for 90 euros anight ($130.50 at $1.45 to the euro) as well as a smallhouse for 90 euros thatsleeps four.

Whereto Eat

Withthe way locals rave about La Terrasse (Pueblo de losPescadores, 809-240-6730),a reasonably priced French bistro in Las Terrenas,it’s a miracle otherrestaurants are still in business. Set in a romantic,whitewashed house alongthe surf, it serves fish-centric dishes along with softDominican music andcandlelit coziness. Among the better bargains: grilleddorado for 300 pesos, or$8.75 at 34 pesos to the dollar, and squid à laprovençale for 350. Or splurgeon the pricier specials, like snapper enpapillote for 450 pesos.

Thosewho want a more Dominican — and thus cheaper — mealwill find plenty in downtownLas Terrenas, away from the beach. But should yoube heading out to Playa Cosónor Playa Bonita, there’s a menuless and namelesshole-in-the-wall storefrontright before the road forks to the two beaches ,where a plate ofvinaigrette-coated chicken ***, or other daily specialsserved with rice andbeans, is 100 pesos. It’s marked only by a “Pescado” (“Fish”)sign, ironic sincefish is not a regular menu item. For breakfast in town,Sucré Salé (Plaza Taina,809-860-0863) is an expatriate’s favorite. An espressois 20 pesos, andbaguettes and pain au chocolat are not much more. It may fallshort of Parisboulangerie quality, but Paris doesn’t have Dominican beaches,either.

FreeBeaches

Thebeaches in Las Terrenas are perfectly acceptable, butfar more serene sands liea bumpy (but fun) 100-peso motoconcho ride away atPlaya Cosón , the winner ofthe regional beach beauty pageant. It offers aboutfour miles of nearly emptypalm-lined sands, with just a few small hotels andrestaurants to interrupt themajestic beachfront. (Okay, there’s a Viva Windhamresort, too, but just facethe other way). A close runner-up is the gracefulPlaya Rincón — though, at morethan an hour’s excursion by car, it is a bitremote. Still, getting there is agood way to get to know the peninsula,zigging and zagging over deep green hillsspeckled with cotton-candy-coloredhouses.

Whereto Party

Jointhe gringo-local mix at La Bodega (Casa Linda,809-868-3390), an outdoor clubthat takes over the courtyard at the Casa Lindashopping center in Las Terrenasafter 10 p.m. There’s no cover unless there’slive music. But the chance to seethe country’s top merengue and guitar-playingbachata stars is well worth the300 pesos or so. Calmer places to get a beerdot the nearby beachfront, like thecozy El Mosquito Art Bar (Pueblo de losPescadores, 809-877-8374).

Whatto Do

Thetropical waters of Samaná Bay is a breeding place forthousands of humpbackwhales, who travel from as far away as Norway to mate inthese warmer climesfrom January to March. The area’s chief whale watcher isKim Beddall, a Canadianwho runs Whale Samaná (Santa Bárbara de Samaná,809-538-2494,), which offerstrips twice daily for $59 that last three to fourhours. The 50-foot boat isspecially outfitted for whale watching, withbathrooms, and onboard naturalistsare there to answer questions. Ms. Beddall,too, can answer just about any questionyou throw her way about the humpbacks,from their evolutionary ancestors whoroamed the Earth, to theirsingles-bar-like mating rituals.

Whatto Buy

Themain street in Las Terrenas is loaded with shops, someof them sellingoverpriced junk. A standout exception for local wares isNativ’Arte (CallePrincipal, 270, 809-240-6412), a slightly chaotic store thatcarries everythingDominican-made, from coconut and olive oil soaps in scentslike mint andlimoncillo for a few dollars, to ceramic plates with indigenouspatterns andadorable diaries. It’s a step classier than your regular touristshack. ForHaitian arts and crafts, check out Haitian Caraibes (Calle Principal233,809-240-6250), a gallery that carries cigars, crafts and brightHaitianpaintings by talented artists (as opposed to the schlock sold in thestreets),starting at around $50.

Haveyou been to Samaná or another part of the DominicanRepublic? Share your traveltips.

Dancing With the Devils in the Dominican Republic

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:23:00 GMT

By SETH KUGEL

ASMALL, pothole-laden city in the central valley of the Dominican Republic,anchored by aconcrete-pillared, irregularly shaped cathedral whose decidedlyugly look takessome time to grow on you, La Vega isn't high on the to-do listof mosttravelers. There are no beaches, a few tolerable hotels, someunremarkablerestaurants and, for 11 months of the year, no real reason to gothere.

Butthat changes in February, when Carnaval comes to town. Then, the quietstreetsof La Vega are crowded with visitors who seem to double the populationof200,000, the clubs fill with deafening music that keeps their customersdancinguntil almost dawn, and - most notably - grotesquely beautiful,intricatelydecorated, jingle-bell-draped demons race through the streets ofthe jam-packedtown every Sunday, whipping anyone who dares to get in their waywith reinforcedcow bladders that carry a surprisingly nasty sting.

Itis a month peppered with street concerts that attract the country's bigmusicstars; of weeks spent with family members who have returned home torelive thetraditions of their childhood; of days and nights filled with music- theblaring brass of merengue, the tinny guitar of bachata, both played atabsurdlyhigh volumes on huge portable speakers - that acts as a kind ofnonstopsoundtrack to the surreal events that unfold as Carnaval gathers steam.

Carnavaltakes place on each weekend of February, with parades on Sundays,culminatingwith the largest one, on Feb. 27, Dominican Independence Day. ManyDominicancities and towns have their own Carnaval traditions, usually withsome demonicor outrageous character as its symbol and centerpiece. But nonerivals that ofLa Vega, and, in fact, many other cities send representativesthere on the 27thto march alongside that town's famed diablos cojuelos -horned, fanged, wingedcreatures whose outfits are created in ramshackleworkshops by people who havebeen honing this skill for years.

Thelegendary Dominican singer Fernandito Villalona summed up the experiencein aSpanish-language merengue that you'll hear repeatedly if you go to LaVega:

When February comes, everything is happiness,
Dance in the street by night, dance in the street by day ...

Historianstrace such carnival celebrations (carnaval, in Spanish) as farback as pagan Rome and even ancient Egypt, but the modern incarnationemerged from Catholictraditions that came with colonialism and were deeplyinfluenced by Africanslaves. The word carnival is said to come from the Latin"carne vale,"a farewell to meat, which explains why it wastraditionally celebrated in thethree days before Lent, ending with FatTuesday, or Mardi Gras, festivitiespreceding Ash Wednesday. But in the Dominican Republicit has become moreclosely associated with Independence Day.

InLa Vega, Carnaval is a decidedly multigenerational event. While localpartygoersin their teens and 20's rule the streets and the clubs - witness thebeer-swilling,high-decibel gathering Friday night at the Parque de losEstudiantes, a pocketpark at a busy intersection - their parents andgrandparents are equallyenthusiastic participants in the celebrations. Duringmy visit last February, onthe final weekend of the celebrations, one of thebest dancers around was LisaFernanda Tapia, shaking her hips as she stood onthe outskirts of a huge streetparty late into a Saturday night. The next day,she turned 4.

Iarrived in La Vega on a Friday afternoon, and encountered a typical,hummingDominican town, full of boisterous, friendly people - many of whom weregatheredin the town square, where some kids shined shoes and others chasedpigeons whilea nearby vendor sold coconut sweets for 5 pesos apiece.

Usingmy cellphone (a worker at the local Verizon office had helped metemporarilyreprogram it with a local number - very convenient), I calledMayobanex Mota,the nephew of an acquaintance of a friend of mine in New York,hoping to getsome advice on what to do in La Vega. He turned out to be thehead of LosRebeldes, one of the top local teams - members of which dress inidenticaldiablo cojuelo costumes. That meant he had little time to be a guide,but didgive some excellent advice (and some pretty good coffee) in hisfamily'sbackyard before I set off to explore La Vega.

Iseemed to be one of the few foreigners in town for the celebration.Thehalf-dozen groups of non-Dominicans that I talked to were resort workers,PeaceCorps volunteers and artists from places ranging from Kansas to Chile who were all now livingin thiscountry. The only other vacationers I met were Dominican-Americans, backhomefor a visit.

OnFriday night, after an unmemorable dinner of shrimp and the friedmashedplantain dish known as mofongo at a drab restaurant that resembled ahospitalcafeteria, I set out on my own to the Parque de los Estudiantes, to mixwiththe locals, and ended up sharing a few big bottles of Presidente beer fromanearby open-air bar with a group of men and women in their 20's. (Theabilityto speak Spanish is definitely a plus in La Vega, but visitors willalsoencounter many Veganos, as the residents are known, who have spent sometime orperhaps lived, in the United States, and can helpout when languageskills falter.)

Later,we all headed to Kafe Klaro, a disco decorated with diablos cojueloscostumesand so popular I had to park my rental car on the grassy median of theroad, theonly space available. My New York-bred fear of tickets, I wasassured, wasunfounded.

Thenext day, Mayobanex rode with me to the Altos de Hatico section of townto seethe workshops where the amazing costumes are made. For weeks and monthsbeforeCarnaval starts, dozens of teams design their own costumes as theirpublicawaits, wondering what they will have come up with this year and sharinganysecrets that escape. At over $1,000 a costume, several months' salary formost,the designs of the elite teams are highly guarded, and in recent yearshavegrown increasingly complex and creative and, alas, often sponsoredbycorporations.

Livingin a largely Dominican neighborhood in New York, I had heard a lot abouttheworkmanship that went into these costumes and seen many examples of thematvarious festivals and at community centers. But to see their humble originswasa shock.

Ourfirst stop was a rusty ramshackle shed, full of industrial sewingmachines andlittered with scraps of fabric where Ángel Fidelio Jorge, known asFillo, hadworkers putting the finishing touches on a costume or two. Fillo, inhis early50's, works with a team that numbers 35 or so at its peak, workingnonstop inthe weeks leading up to Carnaval tailoring the multilayered,jingle-bell-heavysuits according to lists of measurements that teams submit.

Sinceit was the last weekend of Carnaval, activity was slow, and Fillodidn't seem tomind the company. Nearby, in the back of a run-down concretehouse, Melvin Marteand his crew turn out papier-mâché masks from molds sointricately twisted anddiabolical they could have emerged from a Hollywood costume shop.

BYthe time we got back to town, the Saturday night festivities were underway, andvisitors began to flood the town. Many of the Carnaval costume-makingteams -groups with names like the Broncos, the Buddies, the Ants and theScorpions -set up cuevas, or caves, which serve as gathering places for theirfriends,staging grounds for the parade on Sunday and ground zero for theafter-party.Usually, they are just the equivalent of party tents withbleachers, but inrecent years a few groups have begun to outdo the others.

Ithought Mayobanex was boasting when he declared the Rebels' cave the talkof the2005 Carnaval, but he was right: the city was buzzing about theelaborate pirateship they had set up along the main parade route, completewith a mast, ropeladders and plenty of planks. And admission to the upperlevel, with its greatviews, was reserved for friends and family.

Outsidetheir cueva, available to the public, the Rebels had created whatmay be thefirst machine in history to measure how hard you can swing a driedbladder. Thetest-of-strength gadget, called a vejigómetro, or bladder-meter,looks like acannon. Wind up and bash the back end with your handy cow-bladderwhip, and outflies a ball. The farther it goes, the stronger you are. Or, putanother way,the more pain you would have inflicted on somebody's rear end.

Istuck around the Rebels' cave as the parade route began to fill thestreets forthe Saturday evening festivities. And, in the Dominican Republic,festivitymeans loud music. By 10 o'clock, a nearly full moon had risen behind a stagethat wouldlater feature live bands, and conversation was possible only bydirectmouth-to-eardrum shouting. All around me, people were dancing toreggaetón hitslike Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina," which in February wasreaching itsapogee.

Sundaymorning broke and I took off to wander the streets and scout out thebest spotto watch the afternoon parade. Signs of preparation were everywhere.Off Parquelas Palmas,a square park blocked off by Do Not Enter signs that everyone wasignoring, ateenage boy set up blocks of ice and bottles of syrup forfrío-fríos, the localsnow cone. A few blocks away, a hollow-cheeked older man,Gil Tineo, hung hisstock of colorful, cloth-covered faux vejigas on a clotheslinebetween twoposts. He told me he expected to sell 100 or so for 25 or 30 pesoseach. (Butnot everyone was in parade mode: several evangelical churches wereconductingenergetic services audible from the sidewalk.)

Byearly afternoon, the streets were packed: sellers of MunchkinLand-likelollipops lugged their wares through the crowd, people suckedice-coldpassion-fruit juice through straws, and among those carving out dancespaces inthis mass of humanity was a little girl in a frilly pink dress dancingwith acostumed penguin.

Thebest viewing spots were anywhere with barriers separating the street fromthecrowd, because as the day went on, the crowd elsewhere surged out littlebylittle, occasionally nearly blocking the procession until a few demonic whipsgotcracking. It was not a place for the claustrophobic.

Icould hear the somewhat disorderly parade before I could see it, as cheersrosefrom the crowd down the street as groups of dancing diablos appeared.Thoseresidents who had taken to rooftops or perched in trees were the first toseethe marchers, swinging their vejigas as they swept down the street insomewhatdisorderly fashion, eliciting shouts of delight from the crowd.

Someteams had stunning costumes, ranging from royal blue and gold to neongreen to arather startling orange. Other traditional (and nutty) Carnavalcharacters alsomade an appearance, like Robalagallina, which means "stealthe hen"and generally is a man dressed as an ample woman, usually, forsome reason, withrollers in her hair and holding an umbrella.

LaVega's elaborately costumed diablos are, deservedly, the centralattraction.With their deeply grooved faces, jutting demonic eyes (usuallyred), outsizefangs and brilliant colors, they are irresistible - and for manylocal children,irresistibly scary. The vejigazos, or bladder attacks, don'thelp, and manychildren in the Dominican Republic grow up with a kind of love-fearrelationshipto Carnaval. In recent years, the Carnaval authorities have triedto restrictthe whipping: only on the street, and only on the behind. (Thesidewalk, andother parts of the body, are safe zones.)

Manyof the visitors dispersed after the parade ended, but for those whostayed, theparty had just begun. Freed from their marching orders, devilsroamed the streets,doling out freelance vejigazos, and kids whose parentsbought them vejigas fromvendors joined in. On one street corner, I saw a boynot much older than 3wielding his yellow and black vejiga like an expert. Hedid not wear a mask, butthe diabolical look in his face as he swatted strangerafter stranger showed hedidn't need one. I considered the playground fate ofhis future classmates andshook my head.

Justbefore walking over to the final event of the weekend - a massiveoutdoorconcert featuring two of the country's most beloved merengue stars,FernanditoVillalona and Toño Rosario - I bumped into a hulk of a diablo namedJuan CarlosMota, Mayobanex's brother, outfitted in a red and gold,gladiator-inspired devilsuit. Hearing that I had remained largely unscathedfrom the vejigazos, hereared back and took a massive swing. It stung badly,but it didn't hurt as muchas I had feared - at least not then.

Thenext day, as I settled into my seat on the airplane, and flinched atthesensation, I realized I was leaving La Vega with a black-and-blue souvenirofthe place. It would be a long three-and-a-half-hour trip back home to NewYork.

•

IfYou Go

How to Get There

JetBluehas daily nonstop flights out of New York to Cibao International Airport, about15 minutesfrom La Vega and about the same distance from the center of Santiago.Fares start at about $120 each way.American and Delta also fly nonstop fromJ.F.K., as does Continental from Newark.

Rentinga car is advisable, though there are buses from the airport to LaVega and taxisin town; most major rental companies are represented at Cibao.

Youcan use one of the many A.T.M.'s in La Vega to get pesos.

Where to Stay

Guidebooksto the Dominican Republic allmention Carnaval in La Vega, but most caution against stayingin town, notingthat the typical hotel is a dive with missing toilet seats,saggy mattressesand questionable security. True enough, but for some reason fewguidebooksmention El Rey, Avenida Antonio Guzmán (formerly Restauración)3,(809) 573-9797, a 10-minute walk from the square. This small hotel openedfouryears ago, and, despite its location next to an auto parts shop, couldevenstretch its way into the "charming" category, withwrought-ironfurniture and colorful tile in the lobby, and perfectly decentrooms for 900pesos ($29, at 31 pesos to $1) a night.

Thereare also some campy "resorts" off the highway, which formuch of theyear serve as love nests for romantics with nowhere else to go, butareperfectly respectable hotels for Carnaval, if you don't mind theoccasionalpiece of erotic art in your room. One, the Atlas Apart-Hotel,Autopista Duarte, kilometer 2, (809) 573-3110,is just outside of town andcharges about 1,500 pesos a night.

Where to Eat

Eatingand celebrating are Dominican specialties, and in La Vega they don'tdo eitherin a fancy way: beer, rum and loud music for the partying, and rice,beans andmeat for the food. My favorite place was El Zaguán,AvenidaPedro A. Rivera, kilometer 2.5, (809) 573-5508, just outside of town.It is anopen-air restaurant with the thatched roof common to Dominicanthrowbackrestaurants. There is no menu here, but one thing not to miss is aparticularlyfine rendering of the local speciality, mofongo - mashed friedplantains mixedwith pork cracklings (165 pesos).

Thefood at Macao Grill, Avenida Antonio Guzmán (formerlyRestauración)82, (809) 573-2020, has standard Dominican dishes for between 200and 300 pesos;it doesn't quite match up to El Zaguán, but it could hardly bebetter situated,right across the street from the cathedral. A great place fora quick bite isVilla, Plaza Aspen, Avenida Imbert, (809)573-9168,where the pressed sandwiches are all under 100 pesos.

Thoselooking for a more down-home spot should try Pollo el Confesor,Avenida Imbert at Calle Colón (no phone), which attracts chickenlovers likeflies. Unfortunately, it also attracts lots of chicken-loving flies,but thiscrowd doesn't seem to mind sharing. A whole chicken is 200 pesos; ahalf is100.

SETH KUGEL contributes regularly to the Travel section of The newYork Times.

Luxury hotel in Bavaro- The Paradisus Palma Real

Punta Cana Lifestyle Real Estate — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:21:00 GMT

The 554-suite ParadisusPalma Real offers gourmet dining choices, a range of complimentary amenitiesand adults-only royal service with personal butlers and private beach and poolareas.

Each of the oversizedsuites is equipped with mahogany furniture, a Jacuzzi for two, a spaciousbathroom with European Spa jet shower, plasma television, CD player, dailystocked mini bar, and a private terrace.

The resort has 102 royalservice suites and two presidential suites. Royal service guests have exclusivecheck-in and checkout, butlers, pillow menu selections, restricted beach andpool areas with Bali-beds, a private lounge, and preferential reservations forspecialty restaurants, spa, activities, and excursions.

Its family conciergeprogram offers special suites; a personalized concierge service to coordinatefamily activities, a check-in lounge, a children’s welcome amenity, includingkid’s beach bag with sunscreen, baseball cap, and T-shirt; an optional in-roomPlayStation; amenity kits, including child-sized bathrobe and slippers; andturndown services.

To book, call (800)33MELIA. Hotel information also can be accessed by visiting www.solMelia.com.