It´s autumn 2023 both my boyfriend Sam and me have a few days off of work together. Sam would like to catch some sun and warmth before the darkness of the winter truly sets in. being November a cruise on the Mediterranean would be a bit too chilly, in Greece most interesting hotels are closed. I was thinking about going to Thailand but flight prices where prohibitively expensive, after consulting a TUI travel agency they recommended us a trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with an unbeatable price. This would be Sam´s first ever and mine first in a very long time package trip with an all-inclusive hotel.
Contrary to the complimentary lounge access provided by VIP-Selection on the outbound flight in Brussels, there was no complimentary lounge offering in the outstation of Punta Cana for the return flight.
We could however buy access to the Punta Cana Airport Lounge, normal entry fee is 50 USD per person but as we paid by American Express this was reduced to 35 USD per person. The lounge is a bit in a hidden corner, even though we were looking for it we walked right past it. The entrance is at the end of a small corridor and is of a rather subdued design.
After paying our entry fee we were allowed into the relatively small room. There were a number of couches to sit on but a distinct lack of tables. We first took a seat in one of the couches near the window without a table, as soon as a couch with a table opened up in a corner further down in the room we moved there.
The buffet was small but offered a decent offering of bites to eat and was frequently replenished. The quality of food on offer actually exceeding the quality of the 10 nights in our all-in resort. The hot food existed in the form of soup or pasta, otherwise you had a number of cold choices like different types of sandwiches (all with ham and cheese, nothing for vegetarians or non-pork eaters) and salads. There was also a nice offering of pastries and cakes, most of them on a different display.
Water and juice could be poured yourself from big containers, all other drinks had to be procured form the manned bar. There was a limit of two alcoholic drinks per guest, although I’m not sure how they keep track. Service was always fast and friendly. To the side of the buffet was the entrance to the toilets, which where basic but clean.
The biggest asset of the lounge was most definably the outside smoking terrace with comfortable outside seating. It’s not often that lounges provide a smoking area and even rarer that they provide any outside area at all, this surely was a bonus point for the lounge.
As we had a reduced entrance fee thanks to my American Express card, we felt we had value for money despite the small size of the lounge. If however you would have to pay full price I don’t think it’s worth the expense.
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