My Trip + Guide to Traveling to the Dominican Republic

As we begin the official start of Winter here in Chicago, I strategically decided to escape the cold with my mama to one of my bucket-list destinations – the Dominican Republic! I was SO excited for a little rest, relaxation and sunshine! I have been dreaming of the beautiful DR beaches for a while now and had my heart set on squishing my toes in the white sand! In fact, I’m not the only one who decided this beach destination was rather attractive; the DR was included in FORBES’ Best Place to Travel in 2020! We loved the beautiful beaches of Punta Cana and Secrets Resorts Royal Beach was the PERFECT getaway. We went for 4 nights and it was the perfect amount of time. Having a direct charter flight from Chicago to Punta Cana made the travel short, easy and seamless! I’m breaking down all the info in this blog post of how we traveled to the DR, where we stayed and what we did to make booking your trip to The Dominican Republic a little easier!

We planned our trip through Apple Vacations, and seriously y’all, they take care of everything! From flights, to transportation from the airport, to the hotel! We just had to sit back, relax and decide which bathing suits we wanted to pack! They always have amazing travel deals and all inclusive deals all over the world! This was my second trip with Apple Vacations and both were seamless! A huge benefit to traveling with Apple Vacations is that they have a ton of direct charter flights from a bunch of US airports. O’hare is one of their biggest hubs! So that means, no layovers, shorter travel days and more time at your beautiful destination! Talk about traveling with ease and peace of mind!

My Mom and I stayed at the gorgeous Secrets Resorts Royal Beach property in Punta Cana! There is no one else I’d rather sip piña coladas and sunbathe all day at a luxury resort with besides her! The hotel has 5 gourmet restaurants that you don’t need reservations at, which is real nice when my mom and I are on vacation time (aka no schedule, no commitment)! All food and drinks were included, so once again, I paused my new year health kick to eat my way around the world! If you’re someone that doesn’t want to venture out of the resort, there are plenty of fun activities at Secrets, for the most active to the beach bum (I fall somewhere in between hehe)! The toughest decision we had everyday was if we wanted to take a dip in the ocean or the gorgeous hotel pool!

We stayed on the Preferred side of Secrets, which I would definitely describe as a quieter, more relaxed version of the resort. If you’re looking to dance with a group of friends and have a little bit more of an upbeat beach vacation, I’d stick with the normal package (where maybe a younger, more fun Ali could hang)! I think it’s a nice way to keep the spring-breakers from the honeymooners if that makes sense! Our Preferred upgrade came with a 24-hour butler (ya’ll saw sweet Elvis), top-shelf liquor, a private pool and other upgrades to make the trip even more luxurious!

All of our planning was done with Amstar, a destination management company! Talk about helpful, they assisted in everything from airport pick-up to excursion booking! It’s so comforting to land at a foreign airport and have someone there waiting for you! They added the ease to make the vacation even more relaxing and worry-free. One of the highlights of our getaway was the trip to Monkey Land which was also through Amstar! They arrived right on time for our pickup and took care of all the planning! All we had to do was book it! We were able to hang with the cutest, sweetest little squirrel monkeys (meet Jacques, my new monkey friend below). They are raised ethically on a 6 acres piece of land on a farm that grows and produces cacao, (did you know 95% of chocolate purchased by Nestle comes from the DR!?) coconut oil, coffee and more! Part of the Monkey Land tour included learning about how these things are grown and produced. It was SO interesting to see how it’s all done. We learned so much! Did you know that the longer you roast coffee beans, the less caffeine they have? So, for your strongest cup, roast for only 30min and for less caffeine, roast for an hour! That means, the darker the coffee, the less caffeine! I always thought it was opposite! Amstar offers a TON of excursions for people with all different areas of interest! From water sports to city tours, they have it all!

Mom and I were so sad to leave the beautiful Secrets Royal Beach property in gorgeous Punta Cana. We can’t wait to come back and visit these perfect blue waters, sunny skies, epic buffets and of course, Elvis! For your perfect relaxing getaway, I couldn’t recommend Secrets Royal Beach in Punta Cana more!

Let me know if you have any questions about our experience and find more information about THE RESORT, THE TRAVEL, THE EXCURSIONS & THE DESTINATION by clicking each!

Soak up the sun,

xx Ali