Rejuvinated with some vitamin sea!
One week away in our home away from home, Dominican Republic, and we come back to the beginnings of spring and the last days of the month! It’s amazing how quickly March has come and gone, but I am happy to finally see the pavement, the grass and the sun!
I keep telling myself that the next time we travel we will try somewhere new, but our usual resort has so little to complain about that I question why we would bother. And, this year, they even had waffles at the breakfast buffet! I mean, come on!
Seriously though, we did have some trouble this year, but it was my fault for not rectifying it sooner.
Since we had the LO was have been upgrading to the Junior Suites looking out over the ocean. Not for the views, but because those buildings are quite new, modern and well kept. But, of course, there is a price for this so I expect it to be perfect. Which it was not.
We arrived late, but early enough to grab a quick bite at the buffet before it would close for the night. Afterwards, we went straight back to the room and went to bed. The next morning is when I realized that our ocean view was in fact mostly obstructed by the roof of one of the restaurants. I assume the snippet of water we could see was why we paid the premium that we did. But, I wasn’t worried about it seeing as we had all week to sit by the water so we carried on with our day.
Back in our room, around 8pm after dinner, we hear music coming from the restaurant. Expected. But then, very loud drumming! Over and over again. This pattern of restaurant noise, music and drumming would repeat itself until 10pm and then the staff would spend another half hour or so dragging around tables, chairs and cleaning up. Every... Single... Night.
The LO and I would go to bed around 9:30, and within minutes she would pop up in her crib complaining about the sound of the drums, the loudness of the music and that she couldn’t sleep. I would shush her down but we never really slept before 10:30. And this is a kid who strictly goes to bed before 8pm!
I should have asked to change rooms, but with a toddler settled into a routine and our bags unpacked I just didn’t even think about it. So, each day we went back to our room mid-afternoon and napped. Which she (and I) needed anyhow, but it would have been nice to have the option rather than the need.
So, on our last day I paid a visit to my trusted travel rep and he was able to get us a slightly later checkout to allow for another nap. That’s another perk of going to the same resort over and over, it’s like an extended family!
Speaking of family, the people who own the hotel jewelry shop have become very dear to me. Each year we leave a bag full of our LO’s clothing with them for their granddaughter and, in return, they give me amazing prices on their handmade goods. This year, they even surprised our daughter with a gift to say thank you.
Check out this year’s jewelry haul. They are mostly gifts, I swear! The pieces are 2-sided and called “happy hour” jewelry. The additional stones are for a jewelry project I need to get around to for myself. I bought a few more than this but they have not been given out yet so I am not posting them.
I keep telling myself that the next time we travel we will try somewhere new, but our usual resort has so little to complain about that I question why we would bother. And, this year, they even had waffles at the breakfast buffet! I mean, come on!
Seriously though, we did have some trouble this year, but it was my fault for not rectifying it sooner.
Since we had the LO was have been upgrading to the Junior Suites looking out over the ocean. Not for the views, but because those buildings are quite new, modern and well kept. But, of course, there is a price for this so I expect it to be perfect. Which it was not.
We arrived late, but early enough to grab a quick bite at the buffet before it would close for the night. Afterwards, we went straight back to the room and went to bed. The next morning is when I realized that our ocean view was in fact mostly obstructed by the roof of one of the restaurants. I assume the snippet of water we could see was why we paid the premium that we did. But, I wasn’t worried about it seeing as we had all week to sit by the water so we carried on with our day.
Back in our room, around 8pm after dinner, we hear music coming from the restaurant. Expected. But then, very loud drumming! Over and over again. This pattern of restaurant noise, music and drumming would repeat itself until 10pm and then the staff would spend another half hour or so dragging around tables, chairs and cleaning up. Every... Single... Night.
The LO and I would go to bed around 9:30, and within minutes she would pop up in her crib complaining about the sound of the drums, the loudness of the music and that she couldn’t sleep. I would shush her down but we never really slept before 10:30. And this is a kid who strictly goes to bed before 8pm!
I should have asked to change rooms, but with a toddler settled into a routine and our bags unpacked I just didn’t even think about it. So, each day we went back to our room mid-afternoon and napped. Which she (and I) needed anyhow, but it would have been nice to have the option rather than the need.
So, on our last day I paid a visit to my trusted travel rep and he was able to get us a slightly later checkout to allow for another nap. That’s another perk of going to the same resort over and over, it’s like an extended family!
Speaking of family, the people who own the hotel jewelry shop have become very dear to me. Each year we leave a bag full of our LO’s clothing with them for their granddaughter and, in return, they give me amazing prices on their handmade goods. This year, they even surprised our daughter with a gift to say thank you.
Check out this year’s jewelry haul. They are mostly gifts, I swear! The pieces are 2-sided and called “happy hour” jewelry. The additional stones are for a jewelry project I need to get around to for myself. I bought a few more than this but they have not been given out yet so I am not posting them.
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| Larimar, Amber and Pink Shell |
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