The minute your feet touch the grounds of the Melia Caribe Tropical you are treated warmly by the bus boys who immediately take the luggage off your hands and set it aside for you while another employee guides you to the correct check-in line. Our check-in time was supposed to be 3pm, we arrived earlier than that and we never got any hesitation. In fact, our original check-in time was never even mentioned. The woman at the front asked through her radio which rooms were available and set us up in one of them.
Check-in can be a little slow because there is a lot to cover. The staff makes sure they provide you with a map layout of the resort, they go over the transportation options to move along the resort, the location of the restaurants and so forth. Don’t worry, a server comes around while you are checking in to make sure you have a drink to cool you off during the process.
The resort has an option to book their “Adults only” section which is closer to the beach and has its own pool as well. However, after meeting people who were over in that area but spent their time in the same pool area as us, we were glad to not have spent the extra money on that. For future reference, it is good to know that the higher the room number you are assigned to the farther away it is from the pool and beach. For example, we had originally gotten assigned a room in the 4000 range which was close to the area we checked into and to the restaurants but not the beach.
Our second group was assigned a number in the 0300 range because they were a group of 3 and apparently the rooms for more people are around that area. Initially we were explained that because of this we couldn’t be in the same area. After check-in we were taken to another employee who goes over some basics and of course offers to allow you into the areas of the resort that are for members only in exchange for a few hours of your time. If you have ever been curious about timeshares then try it out. They will also offer you comp tours if you are interested in attending the presentation.
We did not have any intentions in becoming members, so if you are on the same boat be direct unless you want to continue being approached about it. Remember, you can be direct without being rude. Yonas, one of the resort employees, still made our trip a more pleasant one by switching our rooms to the 0900 range. Please keep in mind that if you do get assigned to one of the 4000 rooms, there are trams and golf carts going around that take you from one end of the resort to the other, so getting to the beach will still be easy.
The resort has many restaurants, our favorite one was El Guarapo, their fish fillet in coconut sauce was amazing. A great snack option for us was at the Agora Grill which is by the pool and has snacks throughout the day when the full restaurant isn’t open. At some of the restaurants you can’t go in wearing beachwear which is pretty reasonable because some are nice sit-down restaurants while others are just buffets. If you are mindful of this, you won’t have any issues. It is also good to know that if you have an all-inclusive stay, you can raid the mini-fridge in your room without any concerns, it is already included in your rate! I can tell you it was very nice to be able to wake up, pop open my fridge and start off my morning with some cold beer.
Aside from the gorgeous grounds Melia Tropical provides, what made this stay one of our favorites, was the great staff in the resort. Throughout our whole stay every single employee was beyond helpful. We never had the feeling that they did it expecting a tip. Of course we tipped because we received great service and we feel expressing gratitude is always nice, but the service was uniform across the board with everyone we saw. In one of the instances, i didn’t know the restaurant did not have mimosas at the time and one of the employees went over to the nearest bar to bring me one. I was amazed!
When you go over to the swim up bar, have Julio, one of the bartenders, make you one of his favorite drinks! I left my fate in his hands and wasn’t disappointed by any of the drinks he made for us. Absolutely delicious!
The resort offers free Wifi throughout the property although it isn’t very strong in the rooms. Melia Caribe tropical also offers the following activities free of charge to all of their guests: Kayaking, Sailing, Snorkeling, Windsurfing, Wall Climbing, Tennis, Volleyball, Aerobics and Dancing.
I will definitely be returning on my next visit to Punta Cana, will you?