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Luxury boutique hotel, TRS Cap Cana, is only 15 minutes from Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic, and is situated within the largest marina in the Caribbean.
I chose to stay here as part of my experience in understanding all that the Palladium Group can offer.
TRS has 115 well appointed luxury suites, most of which have ocean views.
I particularly enjoyed the king size bed and the large, open-plan bathroom and walk-in shower.
The hotel is within a very secure gated community that has shops, restaurants and many luxury apartments that you can stroll around whilst enjoying the quiet waters of the marina and its luxury yachts.
On arrival, I was sorry to witness the decimated lobby reception area and the partly destroyed Helios restaurant, both victims of Hurricane Fiona, which hit the island mid September.
However despite this, the staff had made every effort to maintain their five star status by adapting and improvising, so that the guests were not disappointed or inconvenienced.
On the second floor overlooking the pools, the coffee shop doubled up as the bar and there was still the sports bar to enjoy.
TRS Cap Cana is a restful and relaxing hotel with plenty of room to lay out and enjoy the two pools and swim-up or walk to Gail pool bar.
At lunchtime, a neverending barbecue was available for those who didn’t want to go to the restaurants or leave the small beach. I must admit the beach was disappointing, but if you did want to visit a beach, a short taxi ride would take you to the beautiful areas along the coastline of Punta Cana.
On site, the Palladium team offers a list of daily activities, such as dance, volleyball, bike, riding as well as walks and putting on evening entertainment.
We took advantage of our butler, who was very attentive and knowledgeable. Indeed, he arranged a day trip for us to the capital city of Santa Domingo, which was just over two hours away by car.
It’s a comfortable journey along well-constructed toll roads, but when you do get close to the city centre, the traffic can be very intense.
Santa Domingo is the Caribbean’s oldest city with the historical and colonial zones dating back to the 14th century. It also has the first cathedral in the New World, Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación.
The main square buzzes with live music, and the surrounding streets offer restaurants, bars, shops and so much more.
On the outskirts of the city, the botanical gardens are a delight, as is the Three Eyes National Park, where you go down many steps and discover underground lakes within the limestone.
Also worth a visit, is the Faro a Colón, known locally as the Lighthouse, a religious monument and museum that is so revered that three popes have visited it.
I feel it’s important to experience life beyond the hotel, and to end our day out, we ate in a local restaurant that overlooked the ocean and enjoyed Dominican cuisine.