Punta Cana Dominican Republic

We have been to Club Med over a dozen times. mostly in Cancún. We really enjoy their exclusive spaces, particularly Jade. We decided to try the Tiara at Punta Cana this year, because Cancun got rid of tennis. (What were they thinking?!) In comparison to Jade, Tiara offers a better room for families with an incredible ocean front Beach view. The community space at Tiara does not compare to Jade, nor does the bar service. I really messed Eliseo and Daniel from Jade as they were exceptional. Tito at the bar was very friendly and I enjoyed interacting with him. Yeison was incredibly friendly, caring and always went out of his way to take care of guests. He was by far the very best staff person at the resort. The GO's at Tiara including Benjamin, Antonio and Enrique were very helpful and honestly salvaged and otherwise mediocre experience. Ludivina the manager of Tiara with excellent.

Our boys enjoyed surfing and kite surfing with the great team of Rafael, Robertico, Albert and OberoniStar. My wife and I played tennis every day. and I was disappointed with the condition of the tennis courts. Most of them had standing water on them in the mornings which were not rolled off for the guests and some courts had algae growing on the surface making it quite slippery. Coach Reimer from pickleball was great and we really enjoyed his beginner lesson.

The beach at Punta Cana was fantastic and probably a little bit better than Cancún in terms of water sports. The major factor that negatively impacted our experience was the staff. In no way do they compare to the exceptional staff at Cancún. They were often indifferent to the guests and sometimes downright rude. No passing "Hola" like we are used to in Cancun. Housekeeping even at the Exclusive collection was really substandard. The staff did excel in clearing your dishes, even when you were not finished with your meal. In fact, they were quite aggressive about clearing glasses and dishes to the point that it seemed like it was their most important duty. Requests from myself and my children were often met with scowls despite us being overly polite and trying to engage in light conversation. One example of this was the ice cream scooper who would give you the look of death upon requesting an ice cream. It was so bad that my 11-year-old son would not go to the ice cream counter if he saw that this particular employee was working. It is possible that Cancún has spoiled us, however, my understanding is that due to the fire Club Med lost many of its excellent employees and have not been able to hire quality employees back.
Overall we had a good time, but all of us were unanimous that Cancun is superior in terms of service and staff. Maybe we'll try Miches....