Is the W Punta Cana worth it for a group of 40?

Five days, one fair, three hotels, and the W was the last one.

I was in the Dominican Republic with SDQ MICE, which is a trade fair there, as a hosted buyer. Quick context, I didn’t pay for this. The event paid, and every hotel was showing itself to people like me. So of course, hear everything that I say with that in mind.

If it’s your first time here, I’m Ivan. My parents have run an incentive travel company in Argentina, and I joined them this year, officially.

And if you don’t know what incentive travel is, it’s when a company sends its best people on a trip as a prize. So I look at a hotel for a group of 40, not necessarily a honeymoon.

Every review shows you the pool and the room, and of course that part is good. It is a W. But I went with the people that decide where to send 40 employees, and they check what guests never get to see. The things that can ruin a vacation.

Getting there

We came by road from Santo Domingo. Easy, but kind of a long ride, from that lobby at 20 to 1 in the Santo Domingo Bay to the W at 20 past 5, with one bathroom stop.

The W Punta Cana is not in the same area as the other hotels, and with a group you kind of feel it on the road. We got lucky, because there was no traffic.

Honestly, I didn’t go with big or small expectations, because I knew what I was getting. It’s a W, it’s a chain, so top luxury, good food, good service.

The room everybody films

The room is the part that everybody films, so let me just give it to you fast. I had a double sink, an outdoor shower, two beds that are too big for one person, and a swim-up pool off the balcony. I loved it, and it came with a resident frog, apparently.

The swim up was the one thing I didn’t expect, because I didn’t expect to get a swim up room. So that was lucky me, and of course I jumped into mine at seven in the morning.

And it’s adults only, which is the best thing ever, because it felt peaceful and it felt right. A breakfast that is super complete, that goes from gravlax to a Mexican station to oatmeal. And of course I had the oatmeal, because I’m a boring grandma.

The part guests never see

The site inspection started at 10, under a pergola, and then they walked us into the meeting rooms and venues that they have for events.

In a lot of hotels, the air conditioning doesn’t work and you’re super warm, or it works, but it’s too much and you cannot regulate it. And then half the group gets sick.

So yes, I got excited about air conditioning, I’m that kind of guy. And this one, I actually complimented the commercial manager, saying that the temperature was just right.

A lot of people in my group said the rooms don’t work for a congress, because of the big columns that they had in the middle. And that was true, but I don’t do congresses.

For events, I think this place has a lot of spots: the outdoor spaces, the speakeasy bar. Even the last night, they built a venue for us, and it had a stage, a band, tables for everybody, an amazing singer, and even dancers. So I think definitely this place can do a gala.

Where it stops being perfect

The beach. In the wrong season, the beach in Punta Cana kind of smells like sulfur, even at the W. There was sargassum. If you don’t know what it is, that’s the seaweed that you find in beaches in Mexico and Dominicana. Of course, that’s not a thing that you can blame on the W, it’s just the season.

And the first day, there was no towel service on the beach or lifeguard, because it was low season. But we gave feedback, and the next day there were people serving us on the beach and a lifeguard.

And you can tell even from the people that try to sell you things, the vendedores ambulantes: they were saying there was no one on the beach, not just our hotel. They actually fix it in a day, so I don’t think it’s that bad. They have a beautiful space, so why not look after it more often?

The food and the people

The food at the W doesn’t taste like an all-inclusive. The breakfast, the lunch, the dinners, the snack, everything. The speakeasy was super nice, super nice cocktails.

I’m not a big drinker, but I enjoy the vibe, and by day five, by the way, I think everybody was ordering the welcome drink without alcohol, me included, of course.

And the people at breakfast, the bartenders at the speakeasy, the animators at the pool. A lot of good intentions, and I like to remember their names. I think it’s respectful, and I would encourage you to do the same.

So, is the W Punta Cana worth it?

If a friend asked me that on WhatsApp, and they actually did, I would say yes.

It is expensive, but I think it’s worth it, because it’s an all-inclusive from a brand that never did one. Of the three hotels on this trip, I would actually say the W was the best one, at least because we could enjoy it.

For a couple that wants to rest, yes. And for a company group, yes, too. I would just like to get three things in writing first:

• The transfer
• The beach
• And maybe a rain plan, because most of the good spots are outside

If you’re the one who answers for a group trip, I wrote field notes on Punta Cana and Santo Domingo: what I checked, what I asked, and what I couldn’t confirm. The questions I asked before signing do not fit in a video.

I don’t have an agenda here to make them either look good or bad. That’s just what I saw and what I experienced.

Until next week, human,
Ivan

P.S. In the video I scored it on 6 things out of 10: