Hi all. The wife and I just completed a 3 night stay at Desire Miches. Here are our thoughts: Transportation: We used Punta Cana Limo Transfers and they were outstanding. We could only make our return flights work out of Santo Domingo, and they took us there too. If you do that, bring along some dramamine. The wife got a little carsick, but the driver was nice enough to pull over and get her some soda water and alka seltzer which saved the day Check In: Was easy with no wait, our bracelets were ready and waiting. Only a small amount of pressure for the premier memberships sales pitch. We have. heard it before, and honestly will buy one when the new Eden section at RM opens. I do wish they had a more formalized way of doing this in advance so you don't have to waste part of a day hearing the pitch Room: We had a room with a hot tub inside. When we first arrived none of the lights worked. We called maintenance, and they came promptly to fix. Looking at the room it felt as if they did 85-90% of the work, then skipped the details. Paint mismatch, finish carpentry bad, etc. Not deal breakers, but these could be very nice rooms with just a little more effort. The hot tub takes about an hour to fill, during which time any heat is gone. Separately, the hot water is a real issue. Our shower effectively had none (and this was common as we spoke to other guests with the same issue, and we mentioned it when checking out and the agent knew it was an issue), and the hot tub was slightly warmer but not acceptable. We ended up having to take our showers using the handle in the hot tub. Finally the bugs and critters. I understand you are in the middle of the wilderness and that there will be bugs but this was to another level in the room. We had a stream of millipedes in the room, at least 10 a day just running around. More interestingly we got 3-4 small crabs a day as well. The room is obviously not sealed correctly. Finally on our last night we had the inverse of the light problem when we checked in. The lights would not shut off. So we spent our last night with the blaring lights on. To be fair, it was raining a bunch when we were there, but I would expect all these kinks to be worked out a year after opening. Food and drink: We felt the food was a step up from Temptations Cancun, but not quite as good as DRM. We ate at Suki two times and it was by far the best. We went to Sahlo for Italian and it was average at best. We went back the next night to Sahlo for Mediterranean, but they ended up doing Italian two nights in a row (separately we were told by multiple employees it was Mediterranean night - it wasn't). Tentazione was reasonable for lunch. The snack station was only open once that we saw during our stay - late at night after the hot tub. There also seems to be some confusion about reservations at restaurants. It was never really an issue, but the people at the front desk said no reservations needed, but the people at restaurants said you did. Room service was a fail. We ordered two nights in a row. Never got what we ordered once. No calls, no knocks on doors, etc, For breakfast we went to Addiction everyday and it was perfect for us. Coffee and pastries... The bars were great - no issues with requesting higher end liquors. Willi at the Melange bar was great One interesting note - we noticed that most bottles of water (from bars, restaurants, room) had the seal broken. Unless they do things differently in the DR, they appear to be refilling waters with tap water. Both of us had upset stomachs when we left, hope this isn't the reason. Pools and Hot tub: Some of this is biased by the amount of rain during our visit. However it never got really hot, and the pool quite honestly was too cold to go in. There was only one person inside on our first day. The second day it was a little hotter and you could tolerate being in the water longer. At all times the ocean was warmer than the pool. The hot tub is a great set up. We liked the size and the amounts of beds surrounding it. And it is a quick walk to the playroom. Very good set up. Crowds: It is tough to estimate how full it is, but if I had to guess I would say 30-50%. Our first two nights, there was a decent crowd at the club (and BTW - they put on a good live show) until late in the night. At 2-3AM there was still a number of people having fun. Not sure what happened on the third night, but we went to change into our outfits for the theme night and when we got to the club there were zero people there. The bartender knew us and got us our preferred beverage. This was before 11 pm. It does feel like this attracts a more international crowd than Mexico, which we liked. Temptations: We did walk over there a few times during our stay. I must say if they could pick up the vibe at Temptations Cancun and drop it there it would be great. At this point it is far from it. Was very empty and the resort almost feels a little depressing. Much like Cancun, there seems to be a significant portion (majority??) of single males there. We did eat at the asian restaurant once, and it was good. Spa: We did the tantric massage and it was amazing. Overall: We really want this place to workout. Having a temptations next to a Desire is perfect for us. However, they are just not there yet. It is a little scary that they haven't worked out all the kinks, and the construction issues are a little troubling. We are going to keep watching reviews, and will give it another try in the future if things look better. To be clear the staff were all great and the fellow guests great as well. As for now we are praying they have better construction standards when Eden opens.
Wow it really seems like the rooms are hit and miss. Guessing your room was on the ground floor. We had a jacuzzi room on the second floor, and a few bugs here and there in the bathroom but that was it. We also had plenty of hot water in our shower. Goes back to what you said about the rooms not being completed fully. We also had no issues with the room service. The reviews for Grand have been so hit and miss with lots of things it’s crazy! Sorry you guys had those issues!
