Eden Roc at Cap Cana Review: The Perfect Couple’s Getaway in the Dominican Republic

Who has dreamed about sitting on a beautiful beach and sipping pina coladas on a couple’s getaway without the kids? ME! It took until our daughter was 13 to make that dream a reality but once she went off to sleep-away camp, we made a break for the Dominican Republic for a relaxing and luxurious stay at the Eden Roc at Cap Cana.



I debated back and forth over all-inclusive hotels near Punta Cana but ultimately decided that we were ready to splurge for something a little more upscale and quiet. Since we were able to take advantage of off-season rates by visiting in July, we were very happy with our choice. If you are considering the same, be sure to read this full Eden Roc at Cap Cana review.







Eden Roc at Cap Cana Review







Eden Roc at Cap Cana is a five-star, luxury resort and Relais & Chateaux property near Punta Cana (only 15 minutes from the airport.) It isn’t an all-inclusive so it has a different vibe (I mean, how many pina coladas can you down in one day when they are $16 a pop?) It also isn’t an adults-only resort, but the families you see mostly have younger children.



Plus, in the summer, they aren’t at full capacity, which creates a quiet and relaxing atmosphere with no stress over getting seats at the pool or under the umbrellas on the first row of the beach. The whole experience is very chill. No loud music blaring (like the Sonesta Maho Beach in St. Maarten ), no announcements for activities, no pool games, and no swim-up bars — just peace, quiet, beautiful views, and high-touch service.



Accommodations







At the Eden Roc at Cap Cana, you can either be in a villa in the “village” or about ¼ mile away at the beach club. Both have some advantages. We stayed in a Junior suite in the village. Each suite is a stand-alone unit with a private plunge pool. Ours backed up on the manmade lagoon for beautiful views, others backed up to a garden view. The Junior suite is quite large, with a king-size bed and a pull-out sofa in the seating area.







Out back, around your private plunge pool, you have a seating area under a pergola and two chaise lounge chairs in the sun. You can control all the music, lights, and television from the iPad in the room, including piping music outside, so you don’t even need to leave your room. Hedges are on either side of the patio for privacy.







Inside, the bathroom steals the show. As you enter, there are sinks on either side, as well as on the right there is a huge walk-in closet with quality built-ins offering plenty of storage. On the left is the toilet room and large walk-in shower. Straight ahead is a two-person jacuzzi tub, which room service will happily fill for you to enjoy when you return from dinner or whenever you request.



As you look past the tub and through the glass window, you will see another private patio with a relaxing bench and an outdoor shower, which you can access through the main shower. One morning when I woke up early I spent some time on my computer out there so I didn’t wake Glenn.







The amenities are large and excellent quality, with everything from bath salts to loofah. The room was serviced twice a day and I often enjoyed the chocolates left on my pillow. To me, the only thing missing in the room was a ceiling fan. Unless you kept the curtains pulled in the afternoon, it took a while for the room to cool and it would have been nice to have a ceiling fan.







In addition to the Junior Suites, there are also family suites, which are duplexes with twin beds, a pull-out couch on the lower floor, and a king bed upstairs. Down at the beach club, the Eden Roc has two-bedroom suites (which can also be reserved as a one-bedroom with the second bedroom locked off).



Those suites do not have private pools, but they are steps from the beach. Wherever you stay, getting to the beach or pool is easy. There are pools in each area (Village and Beach) and those in the village are given private golf carts to get to the beach club (so fun!) If you are staying at the beach and want to get to the main buildings for meals or to visit the spa, they will send someone to pick you up and take you.







Dining



For a small resort (50-75 rooms), there are still a good number of dining options. When you check in, you will want to get the schedule of which days each restaurant is open, since it changes, especially in the low season.



You will also want to make reservations (do this in advance if you are visiting in the high season.) We had reservations, but even so, whenever we walked into a nearly empty restaurant they seemed overly concerned about whether or not we had a reservation.







Breakfast at Blue or Mediterraneo



Breakfast is served at either Blue (at the beach club) or Mediterraneo (in the village). They both offer a buffet and a la carte menu items. You can also have breakfast delivered to your room but there is a very high surcharge! Since the Eden Roc is not all-inclusive, I highly recommend booking through a Virtuoso travel agent to receive the free breakfast perk.



We ate breakfast at both locations and we preferred the buffet options at Blue. We also liked the fitness center at the Beach Club better (it is bigger) so we would get up and go to the gym, have breakfast, go back and shower/change, and then head back to the beach.



Blue Grill & Bar







My favorite of all the restaurants was Blue, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So if you are going to eat somewhere twice, this would be my recommendation. Lunch fare includes a nice selection of salads and pizzas, both of which are quite good.



When I’m at the beach I’d prefer not to eat a large meal during the day and I found that this is one area that could be improved across the board — add more light bites to the menus! But we found if we couldn’t make it from breakfast to dinner without more than a liquid lunch, splitting a pizza or getting a salad was perfect.



In the evening, Blue transforms into a modern Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant. They focus on small plates and that is one of my favorite ways to dine. There is an assortment of sushi but also plenty of fusion dishes with a twist — like Peruvian causa or Japanese gyoza.



Everything was delicious and the service, if anything, can be too attentive. I’m not sure if it was the training or the fact that the resort was only half full but we had the impression at many of the restaurants that the servers were hovering nervously and a bit more awkward in the presentation than at a true fine dining establishment, but they were certainly trying hard.



Blue bar



La Palapa



La Palapa is located on the rocks jutting into the water at the Beach Club and is a bit more casual with waterfront or open-air dining. They are also open for lunch and dinner, but I’m not sure there is a difference in the menu. We ate at La Palapa twice, but just because we didn’t realize which days Blue would be open. I enjoyed my langoustines, since they are so hard to get at home and my spaghetti with clams. Glenn went with the risotto one night and the Boca Chica fish the other. He was a little disappointed in the Dominican fish dish (it is an entire fried fish but the menu didn’t mention it was fried), but enjoyed the risotto.



La Palapa restaurant







Mediterraneo



Mediterraneo is the fine-dining restaurant. But despite the name, it isn’t simply Italian or Mediterranean. You can also find some Dominican specialties such as the roasted suckling pig that I sampled. Overall, this was my least favorite of the restaurants and the most expensive. Even finding a bottle of wine under $80 was a challenge (at other restaurants I’d found an affordable Albarino that I enjoyed.) My favorite thing from this meal was the amuse-bouche!



Mediterraneo



One other note about dining. When we visited over July 4th, they did a special outdoor “all you can eat” barbecue. Although it was presumably for July 4th, I got the impression that they do these regularly to change up the dining options a bit. I wouldn’t recommend it though. While there was plenty of meat to eat (langoustines, lobster, steak, and pork), there wasn’t a lot else. There was rice and a few other sides but not the spread I would expect. And no dessert!! We asked about that (I like my sweet endings) and they brought over some fruit spears with melon and pineapple. It was a bit disappointing for the cost.







Spa & Fitness



Since I didn’t need to worry about any kids, I was able to take full advantage of the resort amenities including the spa and fitness center. The spa is currently located near the main building in the village, but they are building a second spa at the beach club. The spa facilities are fairly basic for a luxury resort in the Caribbean, and the steam shower wasn’t operational when I visited and I couldn’t figure out how to work the sauna.



My massage was fine and fairly priced, but my pedicure was a little disappointing, without even proper pedicure chairs or dryers. I suppose I’ve been spoiled forever by the amazing spa at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya !







The fitness room at the main building is quite small, so you are better off heading down to the beach club. At the beach club fitness center, they offer classes in a beautiful studio or the grassy area by the beach and have a good selection of workout equipment including four treadmills. Looking out to the pools and beach sure made my run easier! They are stocked with water bottles and towels and someone is manning the center from 9 am to 6 pm.



Kid’s Clubs



I know I said that the Eden Roc is perfect for a couple’s getaway, but sometimes the kids need to come along. If they do, I would recommend the Eden Roc for families up until about age eight, after that, they may get a little bored unless you plan several off-property activities to nearby adventure parks, snorkeling, etc. However, for parents with toddlers and young children, the Eden Roc is perfect.



They have two kid’s clubs, one in the main village with multiple rooms (including a kid spa!), a play area and a lagoon; and one at the beach club. The resort also offers a package for new parents including babysitting and spa services. And, there are certainly plenty of good room options for families.







Beach & Pools



There are infinity pools with comfortable lounges and large umbrellas at both pools. Just note that pool lounges are not plentiful. Most people spend their time at the beach with a quick dip in the pool. The pools by the beach have steps into them — I didn’t notice any zero entry. Even though the pools aren’t deep, I did notice a few toddlers playing in the shallow “rivers” that surround the pool. I’m not sure if it is intended to be used as a toddler pool or more decorative, but kids get creative.











There are plenty of seating options at the beach, some of which can be reserved for groups. Being there in July, we had no problem grabbing two comfortable lounges under a palapa (thatch umbrella) right in front. The attendants were good about setting us up with towels and they do have some beach toys you can borrow.







The beach is lovely and well-groomed. On days there when there was rain the night before, there was seaweed in the water, but not that kind that wraps around you and grosses you out. If you are worried about seaweed, also check these other best beaches in Punta Cana . On other days, it was very clear, especially in the mornings.



The waves were strong but just where they broke, once you got past them, you could bob in the waves around chest level with ease. Small children are fine close to shore but I’d keep an eye on young kids that venture out too far until they are strong swimmers or tall enough to stand. We did see a few fish swim by but the water isn’t crystal clear to see straight down to the bottom. The water is soft, like it has a lot of minerals in it, and slightly cloudy.







My only minor gripe about the beach is that the beach bar attendants could have been a bit more attentive. A few times I had to ask for water a few times (but the bottled water is free at least!) and when we did order drinks, they took a while to arrive. But that is just me being lazy because it would have been a very short walk to the beach bar to get what I needed.







Perfect for a Couple’s Getaway in the Caribbean



I found the Eden Roc in Cap Cana to be the perfect resort for a romantic, couple’s getaway. It was exactly what we needed — a luxury experience from start to finish with airport transfers included (another Virtuoso perk!) It was beauty, relaxation, and luxury. I can’t even describe how much we both needed that environment after an extremely stressful six months and how wonderful it was to spend quality time together.



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Note: We received a discounted rate, all opinions are my own.



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