Quick Getaway to Punta Cana at Sanctuary Cap Cana

Like many people, I don’t do well in the winter. It just gets me down. I was hoping we would be able to get away to someplace warm, but we weren’t sure we had the budget for it. But then came Cyber Monday and a great hotel deal on Jetsetter and a sale on miles at Southwest. Before we knew it, we’d booked a trip to the Dominican Republic.

I honestly didn’t know that much about the Dominican Republic besides what I’d read in the book In the Time of the Butterflies and pictures I’d seen of clear, aqua beaches.
We stayed at Sanctuary Cap Cana resort, a very short ride from the Punta Cana airport where we were greeted by a friendly staff and friendlier views.

We went the all-inclusive route for this trip, which isn’t my preference. But we were there for such a short period of time (three nights) and were on a strict budget, so it worked out well.

Accommodations 

We stayed in a Castle Junior Suite, located in the adults-only section of the resort.

Our room was even more beautiful than I could have hoped for (the website is not very informative so I really had no idea what to expect). The space was very large with separate living and sleeping areas, a walk in closet and a large bathroom.

We had some slight issues with the room. On the first morning, when we woke up, we discovered that it was raining… in our bathroom… right above the toilet. A bit inconvenient, but we were in paradise so we didn’t sweat it too much. Other small gripes were the lack of hot water (it was pretty much nonexistent) and a mildew smell on some of the bed linens (humidity will do that, I suppose).

But the best thing about the room more than made up for any downfalls – THE VIEW.
The room opened up to a patio and a deck with direct access to panoramic ocean views and a small inlet where we spotted lots of crabs.

Common Areas

While we could have spent our entire trip in our room, there was plenty to explore throughout the rest of the resort. Most of the activity centered around the resort’s main beach front pool with swim up bar. We spent a good amount of time lounging there and swimming in the pool, as well as relaxing by the (small-ish) beach area.

There is also a much more secluded beach to the left of the castle, which we walked along on a cloudy afternoon.
This beach offers chairs and umbrellas, but the only bar/restaurant is not part of the all inclusive package so be sure to take money or your own drinks and snacks if you plan to spend there.

The property was huge, with five pools and unlimited gardens and paths to explore.
We also spent a great deal of time dining and drinking by the water. (Read all about Sanctuary Cap Cana’s dining options here)
Jetsetter didn’t steer us wrong with this hotel choice. However, I’m not sure we would have wanted to stay here if we’d had the budget for a longer trip, as there are no water activities provided and the resort is pretty far away from a lot of the other attractions the Dominican Republic has to offer.

But for a quick respite from the gross, soul-suck of winter, Sanctuary Cap Cana was perfect. It was so nice to slow down our pace of life for a few days, taking in the calm of the ocean and the glow of the sun – just what I needed to get me by until Spring.