Meliá Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort Review (Spoiler: We Loved it!)
One of the best parts about being an adult is having adult money to spend. So when my best friend, Tori, mentioned this fabulous resort that she had found in the Dominican Republic, and the absolute steal of a price that she had found it at, we HAD to go.
And now that I’m home in San Francisco, with a sunburn peeling on my nose, I’m ready to share a FULL review of the all inclusive Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! Not a single soul asked me to do this, but genuinely I think this is the perfect getaway for a beach vacation.
P.S. If you’re also looking for a round-up of the best full coverage swimsuits for women for your next vacay, you can read all about that here!
The Details
Tori found the resort in January, we booked end of February, and we went early May! So I feel like it was kind of a whirlwind. We booked the inclusive options for 4 people (two couples) for 6 days and 5 nights. My bestie’s dad was familiar with Melia resorts, but had never been to this one, so we looked at the many online photos and said why not. Good news, the resort did not catfish at ALL (but we’ll get to that in a bit).
Cost Breakdown
I bet you scrolled straight here to see if this trip is even in your budget. Lucky for you, I have the costs all broken down! It’s a truly all-inclusive resort, so the good part is you pay everything up front and then just show up and go crazy. Yes, you get additional charge for things while you’re there (spa services, top-shelf liquor, etc.), but I don’t really think you need to. Here’s the breakdown of our costs, minus flights!
I included the extra freebies they threw in, plus Tori had a birthday coupon that took 10% off. We also booked during a sale (don’t worry, they have sales a lot), and we visited the DR in the very start of their low season! I’ll get more into our room situation, but I thought it was perfect. I really do think we booked at the best price.
International Logistics
For US citizens, there wasn’t anything that crazy we needed to do to prepare for traveling. Of course we had our passports, and then the extra stuff like TSA pre-check and global entry, but there wasn’t any restrictions in place for US citizens.
We didn’t have to do any COVID tests (which you can find updates for here!), but we did have to do a special immigration form through the Dominican Republic that was super easy. We did it online, uploaded it to our airline tickets, and then showed the digital PDF when they went to stamp passports.
Transportation
I know I included the cost for roundtrip transportation in a private car above, but thought I would walk you through how we booked it. We booked through Viator (separate from the resort), and we went with the most highly reviewed and most reviewed company, Dominican Airport Transfer.
Everything was SUPER easy. You put in your resort destination and your flight information, and then they confirm when you book and before you fly in. They even had a sign waiting for us at the airport which was super helpful since the DR airport is kind of crazy with taxi drivers.
All in all, it took us about 25 mins to get from the airport to the resort, and vice versa!
Pictures vs. Reality
I’m not going to lie, we were VERY pleasantly relieved when we showed up and the resort looked exactly like the photos. I think it’s so easy to get catfished especially in a new place you’ve never been, so here are my side by sides of the website photos and my own!
Resort Map
Let me break it DOWN to you how this resort works. We obviously stayed in the adults only side which was focused on wellness and relaxation, BUT directly adjacent they did have a resort for families. When I say adjacent, I mean there are roads you can walk around in to get to Melia Caribe Beach (the family side), and you can use their pools, eat their food (for a price, it’s not included in inclusive).
But I will say, the only time we ever saw kids was when we voluntarily visited the kid’s water park lol. Literally did not see a single child the whole time besides that, and it was incredibly (which is so funny because I love kids, but this was just great).
For reference for you, we stayed in Villa 17, and used basically EVERY pool on the adult side. Now that we have that out of the way, here’s the rest of the map to check out.
Accommodation
I never typically book a ground level room, but here it truly didn’t matter. As mentioned above, we got a deluxe room with a garden view in Villa 17, so that meant we had a king bed, a day bed, and a beautiful view of the palm trees outside! It felt like a luxury hotel for sure.
I’m SUPER clean, so hotel rooms can truly gross me out, but I felt much more relaxed when I noticed that everything was spick and span. The tile floors were mopped every single day, we had an abundance of fresh towels, and the mattress was comfortable. Knowing I was sleeping in a well air-conditioned and not dirty room every night helped me really dig into vacation more than I thought I was going to. They also had a mini refrigerator that was stocked with all types of soft drinks and flat-screen TVs!
You can choose from a variety of rooms when you go, but we chose a room that was between the main lobby area and the pool area. They were trying to get us to upgrade to a room closer to the pool, but it wasn’t worth it since there are golf carts that go between the two places the whole time. There’s also a fancier area called The Level which is by the pool and beach, which honestly, go for it if you want, but I was incredibly happy in my space.
Food
Tori said this was the one thing she was worried about since some reviews we saw said that the food was kind of below average, but let me break down the fine dining per restaurant (because we tried nearly all of them). The one you will find missing is Quimera, I want to say it’s in The Level, which is the fancy part we did not pay for lol.
Also very quickly, there are for sure snacks available when the restaurants are closed. They have snack bars and a snack cart by the pool, so don’t worry you will NOT go hungry!
Mosaico: ★★★★☆
This is the international dinner buffet that we visited a couple times for both dinner and dessert, mostly because it doesn’t require reservations. I’ll be honest, this place is STACKED with food! Everything from Dominican food, American food, an array of seafood, and so much fruit, dessert, and cheese, you truly can’t go wrong here.
Fun fact, during our time there we really took advantage of it being all inclusive and we would pop by this restaurant post-dinner from another place, just to do a quick plate of fruit and desserts. The ambiance was just so nice, clean, and lots of air conditioning!
Definitely make sure to stop by here, especially if you’re in a big group and really hungry. There’s something for everyone, and no wait!
MUOI: ★★★★★
This may have been my favorite place we ate at the whole trip. It’s Asian cuisine, so I’ll be honest, I was hesitant to what that would look like because I’m picky with Asian food, but I LOVED it. This place does require reservations, but it wasn’t too busy we ended up eating here twice!
Everything is good here. The chicken wings, the short ribs, the pho, the rice, I could go on and on! Plus the place is super cute, air-conditioned, and just good vibes all around. It’s definitely elevated from the buffets, so it’s delicious.
Serendipia: ★★★★☆
We ate here every single day because this was the only breakfast place open. But I’m fine with it because I LOVE a breakfast buffet! It’s kind of similar to Mosaico in terms of the excess amount of fruit and other breakfast-y things, but the one thing that absolutely slapped was the custom omelet station.
The first day we ate I hadn’t discovered it yet so I was kind of sad to see some wet eggs in a big container, but by my last day I found my groove. I got scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon everyday, plus a side of EXTRA bacon (it’s that good), and fruit. I will say it’s difficult to find hot sauce in the DR, so if you’re a hot sauce fiend like me, you know you’ll be on the hunt. I did find hot sauce by the omelet station, so make sure to douse it before you head back to your table.
Mar de Sal: ★★★★☆
This Mediterranean restaurant was DELISH. It does require reservations, so make sure to do it. It’s beautiful inside, and the food was great. We ate everything from Greek salads, to ravioli, to pizza, and we loved it. Definitely better than the buffet, so make sure you go.
Hokkaido: ★★★★★
This was probably the oddest restaurant experience we had, but the food SLAPPED. This restaurant is not included in the inclusive parts of the resort, but our friends treated Coley and me to it for our birthdays which was so kind. It’s kind of in the middle between the family area and the main resort, but it was easy to get to from our villa.
It’s a hibachi place, so we were in a room with a bunch of other people, and it was delicious. To be honest, the chef was a giant oddball (two couples left the hibachi table because they were so annoyed with him lol) but it made for a very entertaining night. We had amazing edamame, sushi, fried rice, and steak/lobster, so all in all, if you’re looking to splurge, it’s worth it!
Calathea: ★★☆☆☆
Fun fact, this place isn’t just for The Level! We made a reservation here on our last day, and we were pretty excited because 1) it’s by the ocean and 2) we assumed it would be fancy since it used to be only for The Level guests.
But to be honest, it was genuinely the worst dinner we had there. It was soo bad. The service was incredibly slow, there were mosquitos EVERYWHERE, and the food was so mediocre. Compared to the amazing food we were eating all week, this was such a downer. I would genuinely just skip this place to start, it’s not worth it.
Jigger Bar: ★★★★☆
This place is directly between the Mediterranean restaurant and the Asian restaurant, so it’s a nice place to relax if you’re waiting for your reservation. They have a full bar stocked, so go crazy!
Muse: ★★★☆☆
This is the sports bar that they have, and we did visit it a couple times because the Golden State Warriors were in the playoffs against the Lakers, and we saw online that there was a pool table! I will say, the pictures show the place a little nicer than it is in real life, so just be aware of that. It’s kind of dark and not too fancy, but if you’re looking to watch sports, this is the place.
It’s a nice place to play pool if you’re down for it, but there is only one pool table and nothing else (RIP the foosball table in the resort photos).
Barefoot: ★★★★☆
This is the bar closest to the beach, so Tori and Coley were into it. I feel like it’s pretty standard, nothing too crazy! It’s really cute and the drinks are great.
Balance Juice Boutique: ★★★★☆
As someone who isn’t a big drinker, I loved this place! It’s by some of the main restaurants in the front, and they have everything from juices, to smoothies, to amazing coffee. It definitely fits into the wellness of the whole place. Tori got up early almost everyday to hit up this place, because it was that good.
Elyxr: ★★★★☆
We didn’t spend too much time here, but it would get very busy at night where they had live music and entertainment! It was another great bar. Honestly, I don’t know what else to say other than the bars are great, and you truly can’t go wrong with any of them.
Wellness
Okay, I’ll be honest, we did not do a single wellness activity while we were here. But we did SEE a lot of wellness activities that I feel like I can speak to. There were numerous options, like merengue dance classes, a couple yoga classes, and the one we saw the most which was aqua zumba. They also had a wellness center! The variety of activities is perfect for anyone.
Aqua zumba was HILARIOUS. They did it in the shallow end of one of the pools, and the teacher basically just taught everyone how to twerk in the water. Incredibly entertaining and the drunk guests ate it up.
Pool
Genuinely, the outdoor pools were some of my favorite parts! There’s one huge main swimming pool with many small subsections, and a couple smaller pools you can relax in. We spent most of our time by the main pool, and one day by the spa pool for a more calm vibe. I will say there’s not a zillion cabanas available, but we came during slow season so it wasn’t hard to find open ones.
Beach
I’m obsessed with the beach areas, and this beach was gorgeous. From the resort you get direct access, and there’s way more chairs and shade in this area because of the palm trees. I absolutely love the swimming area that they have blocked off for the guests. The natural surroundings like the water was super clear, the sand is soft, and it’s not too deep. The Caribbean sea was just amazing.
I will say, lots of people do try to sell you stuff on the beach which is ANNOYING, but also I get it’s their livelihood. We just ignored them and they left us alone after the first day.
Service
If you’re looking for a resort that waits on you hand and foot, this is NOT the place for you. Service was not the fastest in the world, and we did spend some time waiting for things like the golf carts to drive us between locations, but overall it was not bad! We weren’t really in a rush anyway (I mean it’s vacation), but I know this could be unappealing for some people.
I think the biggest thing we waited on was transportation between areas, but truly it was not bad. They had fancy little golf cart stops that were covered and had drinks, so we would wait in there outside our villa for a pick-up. You can also walk places with ease, but Coley was like “walking on vacation? no thanks!'“ and I respect that.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I think I would trust any Melia Resort from here on out. We were even talking on the last day how we had an incredible experience! It was super clean (huge factor for me), pretty good food, gorgeous interiors and exteriors, a safe stay, and just so relaxing. I would definitely consider Melia one of the best resorts, and I truly had a great time!
I hope this is helpful in deciding if Melia Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort is the right place for you, and if you have any other questions, just drop them below! I’ll try my best to answer everything I can.
And if you felt inspired to book, I am SO excited for you! Getting antsy on what to buy? Check out my Best Full Coverage Swimsuits for Women blog post here!