Affordable Luxury in the DR at Casa Colonial

The Deal: Book a last-minute four-night-minimum stay at the luxury Casa Colonial Beach & Spa resort by March 7 and you'll save 25 percent on nightly rates and enjoy your fourth night free through April 30.

Why We Love It: The all-suite boutique resort in Puerto Plata, DR is one of the most exclusive properties along the island's north coast, and rates during the promotional period start at just $263 per night double occupancy, so it's a great way to experience high season luxury with a low season price tag.

How to Book It: Book your stay by calling 809-320-3232 or surf over to casacolonial.com. Must book by March 7, 2010 and travel by April 30, 2010.

Affordable Luxury in the DR

The Deal: Book five nights in a deluxe junior suite at the Four Diamond Sivory Punta Cana and get one night free through April 4 – or travel between April 5 and December 25 and get two nights free. Either way, if you make your reservation at least 30 days prior to your arrival you'll also enjoy a $100 spa voucher for your stay.

Why We Love It: As the Dominican Republic's only property to receive AAA Four Diamond status for both the hotel and its on-site Gourmand restaurant, the boutique Sivory is a no brainer for luxury – and the free nights and added value included in this promotion will help make this vacation a lot easier on your wallet. The resort offers stocked mini-bars, complimentary Wi-Fi and unlimited use of non-motorized water sports all included in the European Plan – or for an additional $150 per person per night, you can upgrade to the all-inclusive plan and enjoy all gourmet meals and 24-room service, too.

How to Book It: Log on to sivorypuntacana.com or call 809-333-0500 to reserve your room. All taxes are included in the rate.

More Help for Haiti

Heading for the Dom Rep? Travelers with reservations at a Zoetry, Secrets or Dreams resort can help contribute to the humanitarian efforts in neighboring Haiti by bringing medical supplies with them, which the hotels will distribute directly to the needy through Haitian relief centers.
The list of acceptable supplies includes small, easily portable items such as gauze, cotton, elastic bandages and feminine hygiene products.

And remember, even if you aren't traveling, you can still make a monetary donation through the American Red Cross.



photo: thetravelerszone.com

Hilton January Sale

The Deal: Book a weekend stay at any participating Hilton Caribbean, Mexico and South America property by January 31 and get up to 33 percent off your stay all year.

Why We Love It: Even though you have to reserve your stay this month, you'll have all year to actually take the trip, so this promotion is a great way to save in advance on your next vacation. There's a wide range of Hilton properties and destinations from which to choose – such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and more – and if you're a Hilton Honors rewards club member, you'll also earn points on your stay that are redeemable toward free nights.

How to Book It: Call 800-HILTONS or log on to hilton.com/sale to pre-purchase your trip by January 31, 2010. To save, you must book at least three days in advance of traveling, and plan your trip around a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Doing The Laid-Off Take-Off

Like all the other CT+L editors, I get a daily deluge of press releases in my e-box touting industry news, vacation deals, travel gadgets and resort openings. One that caught my eye earlier this month was from the ad agency J Walter Thompson, which has just released the results of their Travel Trends For 2010 report.

One standout was a trend that’s being called “funemployment.” Apparently growing numbers of people who’ve been laid off are using the unexpected time off to travel, often to far-flung places that they’ve always dreamed of seeing but which they'd never had enough free time to visit. Which made me wonder where in the Caribbean I'd go if, God forbid, my CT+L days came to a screeching halt.

Hmmm ... I’d love to spend some extended down time in Provo in the Turks and Caicos  Islands but I fear that lofty prices in the boutique destination would decimate my savings in no time. Maybe in the Dom Rep  or Jamaica ? I could hole up at an all-inclusive resort and practice deep denial over frosty Dirty Bananas at the pool bar. Or perhaps I'd head for the Grenadines  (check out our Beach Lover's Guide in the March 2010 ish) or the BVI , where I'd downshift to island time and spend a few weeks hopping from one barefoot casual outpost to another. But there are also plenty of voluntourism opportunities around the region, such as helping to preserve the forest at Trinidad 's Asa Wright Nature Centre, so maybe my time would be best spent doing something for the environment or for those less fortunate.

What about you? If you suddenly found yourself jobless, where in the Caribbean would you go to put the "fun" in funemployment and why?

Someone's Gotta Do It

I just returned from an extremely restful four days at the Iberostar Punta Cana in Punta Cana , DR. (Here's the view from my hotel room). And I gotta say, there's something great about an all-inclusive resort. Let me break down my days for you: Awaken slowly, stretch out on comfy bed. Don swimsuit and coverup, place towel on beach chair to guard it while I hit the breakfast buffet. Enjoy delicious food in abundance, complete with Bloody Mary. (Free!) Return to room, retrieve Sudoku book, pen and book. Waddle to beach chair, with quick stop at beach bar. Sit completely still, turning over to baste both sides evenly for hours, liberally sprinkled with bathroom and beach bar visits. As the sun made its way across the sky, I'd make my way back to the room to freshen up for dinner at any of five delicious restaurants. Five delicious restaurants, might I add, that were all included in my stay. After (over)eating, I'd make my way to the floor show (also free!) Retire to room, full and happy, repeat the next day. If this sounds good to you too, might I suggest the Iberostar?

Table for One

Oh, it was so romantic. The beach, the sun, the sand, the six — count them, six — various towel sculptures placed delicately in my room at the lovely Iberostar Punta Cana on Bavaro Beach in the Dominican Republic; the pictured kissing swans were surely the pièce de résistance. How nice for them that they were getting some action. I, sadly, was there solo. The job hazards I face, truly. Each morning, I gently woke myself with sweet murmurings about how I’d be with myself forever; this was true love after all. Each day, I took myself for long, intimate walks along the beautiful, creamy beach. At night, I wined myself; I dined myself. I told myself how beautiful I looked in the moonlight. It was, in a word, magical. The swans in my room stared me down for days; I hadn’t the heart to dismantle them. I did remove the flowers each day as they wilted, but every evening, upon returning to my room, I found that Cupid had come in my absence and replaced them with fresh ones. I felt the love. Really, I did.   

Better Travel Options from Beantown

JetBlue is already a major player in the Caribbean travel game, but the airline just announced a new plan to increase flights between its Logan International (BOS) hub and the Caribbean by 25 percent – a move that will make it the single largest carrier out of Boston.

Beginning May 3, 2010, travelers can take advantage of new weekly routes to Aruba; Cancun, Mexico; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Montego Bay, Jamaica – and the airline will also continue its regular daily service to Bermuda and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The decision comes right on the heels of US Airways' announcement to discontinue six of its eight current Caribbean routes next year, so the increased JetBlue schedule will help to pick up the slack in Caribbean flights – great news for the destinations in question and the island-hoppers wishing to visit them.

Check in with the JetBlue site for more information on the new routes and to book your trip.

Best Caribbean Beach Towns

I just finished posting a feature - The Caribbean's Coolest Beach Towns - from the October issue to the site this afternoon, and it got me thinking that I've only been to two of our top picks myself: Cabarete, Dominican Republic and Negril, Jamaica. What about you...do you agree with our choices (also including Placencia, Belize and Rincón, Puerto Rico), or do you have another great Caribbean beach town in mind? Leave us a comment and let us know your favorite outposts in the Caribbean. As for me, I don't want to be left in the dark when it comes to the best beach towns, so it looks like I have some new trips to start planning...

Million Dollar Giveaway

Love contests? We know you do...so check out Clarion's Make Your Stay a Chance at a Million Dollars Giveaway this week. It's a mouthful to say, but it's easy to play...just log in to the official contest site, submit your email to register and then play away. You can enter every day through next week, September 10, so give it a shot...it's totally free. And in addition to the million dollar grand prize, there's a ton of other loot on the line, like Apple MacBook laptops, iPods, digital cameras and more.

While you're on the site, check out some of the travel specials that Clarion and Choice Hotels are offering around the Caribbean this Fall, like rooms in Santo Domingo for just $80 per night, or rooms on Paradise Island in the Bahamas for $150 per night.

And if you're still hungry for more contests, surf over to our own contest page and enter to win them all...

The Coco Loco: Best Caribbean Cocktail?

As a travel editor, I'm lucky to spend more than my share of time in the Caribbean each year, exploring the best of what's new in each destination and reporting back on the hotels and restaurants that are getting it right.

But a highly underrated part of my job involves sampling the local island cocktails. When it comes to sipping tropical concoctions, from painkillers and bushwackers to rum punch and ti punch, I take my work seriously.

One of my favorites, though, is also one of the simplest recipes I've tried. I blogged back in April about an afternoon spent boating with friends down the Rio Yesica near Cabarete, Dominican Republic, followed by lunch at the tiny, riverfront watering hole, La Boca Grill...But what I failed to highlight was that there I had stumbled on one of the yummiest - and most potent - fruity drinks I'd ever tasted: the Coco Loco. And by tasted, I mean I had four. Picture this: fresh coconut milk, a generous pour of Bacardi 151 (um, yeah...that's 75.5% alcohol by volume) and just a splash of grenadine and crème de banana, all served up in a cracked coconut the size of your head. Has anyone else tried this thing? It's out of control.

But then again, there are a lot of scrumptious Caribbean cocktails out there...maybe you've found one that tops the Coco Loco. What's your favorite, and the best place to get it?

Choice Rewards

At Caribbean Travel + Life, we love to uncover the hidden gems of each destination - particularly unique, boutique and authentically Caribbean places to stay. We highlight these Rare Finds in most issues, and we reveal many of our other favorites in features and blogs throughout the year.

But we also know that when travel budgets are tight, it's great to have a few chain hotel brands to throw in the mix as well. And one brand that does mid-priced lodging right is Choice Hotels, with budget-friendly properties scattered throughout the Caribbean in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Turks & Caicos.

Through August 13, guests who visit select Choice properties – including the brands Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion and more – can sign up to receive Choice Privileges points for their stay. For every third qualifying stay, guests will have earned enough of these points for a prepaid $50 cash card with no strings attached – and there's no limit to how many of the cards you can earn. That's all in addition to their affordable summer rates and other incentives like an airline mileage rewards program and free-nights promotions.

Just log on to the Choice Hotels web site to check out their vacation packages and to sign up for the rewards program. Then book online or by calling 800-4-CHOICE.

The Castle Club

When it comes to truly memorable dining in the Caribbean, there are great restaurants, and then occasionally - if you're really lucky - there are experiences. I wasn't sure which to expect when my friends and I left for our reservation at the Castle Club, about a 20-minute drive outside of Cabarete, Dominican Republic, a few weeks ago. The web site promised a "unique dining experience," and the word on the beach was that the food is excellent. Still, when your destination is a private, mountaintop estate where a couple of married expats will prepare your meal in their own kitchen, you know your evening could go in a few different directions.


Driving up the winding road to the hilltop club, though, it became pretty clear to all of us that we were in for more than just a good meal. Situated on 50 acres of mountainous jungle, the "castle" itself is actually a still-in-progress, Romanesque-inspired home that seems suspended in time: Part medieval, part modern and entirely unfinished. The vaulted, open-air structure has no windows or doors on either of its two stories, and bare cement blankets the walls and floors. Though the living areas flow into the exterior gardens in every direction, the interior is lavishly decorated with oriental rugs and French Provencial furniture - all exposed to the elements. Doug and Marguerite Beers, the owners (chefs, hosts etc.), are eccentric, retired artists and it shows in every last detail. By reservation only, they host groups of six or more in their own dining room, and only once per night.

Following a stroll around the gardens with shared hors d'oeuvres of pesto quichettes, pâté and warm baguettes, my friends and I sat down to enjoy the main courses, with Doug and Marguerite taking shifts as our cooks, servers, fellow dinner guests and entertainment. Over plated servings of carrot and ginger soup, breaded grouper with lobster cream sauce, and a double-rum chocolate mousse for dessert, we talked about neighboring Cabarete - the history, the people, the culture - and then idled away the next several hours enjoying a few bottles of red wine and the light tradewinds that flowed freely through the home. Our hosts gave off the warm, comfortable vibe of old family friends, and we found ourselves captivated by the ambience and easy conversation until nearly midnight.

Finally tearing ourselves away from the dining room that night, we all exchanged hugs and the usual promises to return one day in the future. And in this case, as long as there are five willing volunteers to accompany me, I'm pretty sure I will.

La Boca Grill

Take a chance on the unmarked road east of Cabarete at Isla Bon. The winding path is tough on the tires but easy on the eyes, and the end-of-the-road hideaway of La Boca Grill that fringes the mouth of the Rio Yesica is the payoff: friendly local chefs, a pristine and authentically Dominican beachfront locale untouched by mass tourism, and the freshest seafood around. Our feast of today's catch - parrotfish, lobster, blue crab and shrimp - just came off the grill, so I'm off to enjoy the meal and soak up every second of this off-the-beaten-path oasis.

For the curious, I just posted a photo gallery from Cabarete on our Facebook page...check it out to see more about La Boca and other island hot spots.

Next Stop: Cabarete

I'm off to Cabarete next week to explore the active side of the Dominican Republic - from hiking around Isabela Mountain in nearby Puerto Plata to surfing at Encuentro beach. (I'm pretty sure that my surf report will be a comedy piece.) And because I'm dedicated to bringing you the full scoop on this lively destination, I'll be taking in a bit of the local nightlife each night, too. It's all in the line of duty.

There's definitely no shortage of things to do in the adventure capital of the island, and I already have a packed itinerary full of sights and stops planned for the week...But as someone who's never been to the DR before, I'd love to hear your questions and suggestions as well. Tell me what you'd love to know about Cabarete, and I'll report back here after the trip.