Zoëtry Agua Punta Cana

Let me begin by saying that I really wanted to give this place five stars because, when all was said and done, we did enjoy our stay there………but there were just too many flaws to ignore. Let me begin with the best and work down from there. 5 stars: The grounds and the rooms. The grounds are beautiful and immaculately kept. The rooms (we occupied an entire Dominican Villa) were large, clean and comfortable. The A/C worked fine; everything was in good repair. No complaints here. 5 stars: Housekeeping. They kept the rooms clean and well supplied. A different fresh flower design was left on the bed every day and sometimes twice a day. 5 stars: The “butler.� This is more like a roaming concierge. Ours was Juan Escaño, a true gentleman, who met all our needs and went out of his way to make our stay pleasant. He had a knack of showing up just when we needed something or had any questions. He helped plan a surprise birthday party on the beach for a member of our party, which was a highlight of our stay. Many thanks for everything Juan!! 4 ½ stars: The staff in general. Almost everyone was friendly, helpful and genuine. Special mention to Maria, Ariel and Yessica in the restaurants and Angel at the lobby bar. The flip side to the casual laid back service is that it was at times erratic. Some requests were simply forgotten and others fulfilled incorrectly. Overall, however, everyone tried very hard to please. 4 stars: The spa. Nice facility and good massages, albeit somewhat expensive. A note here: get the $200 discount coupons and use them at the spa to bring the prices down. Having read that they were a gimmick to force you to listen to a sales pitch, we originally avoided getting them. One of the nice ladies at the spa told me to simply go and get them and called ahead to let them know I was on my way. Turns out there were no strings attached. 4 stars: The pools. There are two large pools and several that seem to serve the adjoining rooms. The two main pools are of uniform depth (more or less four feet) with a comfortable cool (not cold) water temperature. I suspect that at full occupancy there might be insufficient lounge chairs and umbrellas to go around. 3 stars: The beach. This is not your gorgeous Caribbean beach with pristine turquoise water. There was a constant wheelbarrow brigade removing the endless seaweed. Having braved and climbed over the accumulated seaweed to the water, I soon smashed my toe into some very jagged rocks which are impossible to see. I limped out, never to return. Perhaps there were rock free areas, but I wasn’t about to explore any further. In sum, the pools are the better option. 3 stars: The food. This was perhaps the biggest disappointment we had. After reading many reviews here raving about the “gourmet� food, we had high expectations. Breakfast was the best meal of the day – good omelets and fluffy light pancakes. Lunch and dinner was hit and miss, mostly miss. The menus sound fantastic, but the execution does come close to the descriptions. Many times I felt it was buffet quality food being plated and served at the table. The shrimp “ceviche� was not a ceviche at all, but rather shrimp served with salad. Avoid the grouper, which is obviously frozen and not fresh and comes out overcooked, bland and boring. Tuna is a better seafood option (perhaps because it resists freezing better or has higher turnover), but insist on the tartare or simply seared versions; don’t let them cook it! It is very telling that none of the restaurants have a “fish of the day� on offer (a disgrace for an island nation). Vegetables and salads are good as is some of the beef. Apparently Dominicans are meat eaters and it shows. The Dominican night at the Piragua restaurant was a notch above other nights. After we mentioned our disappointment about the food, one of the cooks (Antolin) prepared a special surprise Dominican meal for us, which was overall very good. This shows that the talent is there, but not used. Misc.: Bugs and mosquitoes – we did not find them to be a problem. To conclude: Zoetry Agua is a lovely place which tries hard to please. Its Achilles heel is the food. Until more attention is paid in the kitchens, there is no way that this resort can be considered five stars. If eating well is not a major concern, by all means go and enjoy!

This is an excellent place to stay with family with my wife and children. If you really want privacy here you will find an ideal place. Good attentions and good food. This hotel allows you to be in a paradise and at the same time you can enjoy the charm of the surrounding tropical plyas. Also the pool area is fabulous to take a bath in the light of the rays of the sun are in front of the room which makes it more palatable.

Step into total relaxation. From a personal butler to gracious staff who are always smiling (and dancing), Zoetry is an escape from the craziness of the world. Its tropical setting relaxes and its small size assures that you are never fighting for a shaded beach chair or a restaurant table. Here you'll get individually prepared blender drinks from the most personable bartenders on the planet--Gilberto and Marcello. You won't find techno music or frenetic entertainment. You will find the perfect place to unplug and simply relax.

My husband and I recently returned from the Zoetry where we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary and there just aren't enough complimentary adjectives to describe our experience! I did my research before deciding to book the Zoetry and that research paid off. To begin, because the resort is a little far from the airport, we booked the non-stop private transfer ($160.00) with Amstar. This proved to be a very worthwhile addition, we were at the resort in about 45 minutes. Upon arrival at Zoetry we were seated in the reception area with a cold fruit juice drink and a cool towel while we were checked in. Moments later we were introduced to our butler, Jesus who escorted us on a tour of the resort where he pointed out various important points of interest before showing us to our room. Our room, where do I begin? We were shown to room #117, a beachfront suite with our very own private plunge pool! The location was absolutely perfect, just steps from the beach and Indigo beach and poolside restaurant, where we ate most breakfasts and lunches...but I'll get to the restaurants shortly. Our room was very spacious with a king bed...one of the most comfortable hotel beds I've ever slept in. The bathroom had both a large tub and separate shower, both had lovely Bulgari bath amenities...I have to admit, I'm savoring what's left of a bottle of lotion, the scent takes me back to Punta Cana and the Zoetry each time I open it! There's also a separate water closet complete with bidet and in between the wc and shower/tub is a lovely vanity area with two sinks and a lighted and magnified make-up mirror. There's plenty of storage area and closet space, it included a small in-room safe. The room had sliding doors to the terrace area that included a table and two chairs as well as two lounge chairs...we didn't need to leave our room if we didn't want to. Housekeeping did service the room three times a day to freshen it and provide turn down service. The room was immaculate and lovingly maintained throughout our stay. Restaurants - one of attributes that attracted me to the Zoetry is the fact that it's all-inclusive, but no wristbands, no buffet restaurants, no reservations required and no wait! We had an opportunity to sample each of the restaurants during our brief four night stay. We ate most of breakfasts and lunches at Indigo, and I don't believe we repeated an entree once. The breakfast choices included a traditional Dominican breakfast of meats, cheeses and breads which we enjoyed our first morning. But we also had waffles, pancakes, Eggs Benedict and chiiaquilles..another favorite! Breakfast always included a fresh fruit plate for sharing and Dominican cofee. Lunches included salads, wraps as well as a bacon cheese burger. One dish I especially enjoyed were zucchini noodles in a very flavorful brogh with sprimp...yum! On the weekends they make a huge pan of paella or fajitas, very good! Our first night we ate at Paragua, the cuisine is Creole with a Latin American flair, and one of our favorites!y My husband had fish (sea bass I think) and I had the beef. Both dishes were lovely to look at and even better to eat...fresh ingredients beautifully prepared. The next night we went to Oleana where the food was fine, but nothing especially memorable. We did have one mild disappointment here with the wine list. Though the resort is all inclusive, if you order a bottle of wine it's not included...that wasn't explained to us. We ordered a very nice bottle of red from Spain to compliment our meal which was uncorked for us at the table and a sample offered. Our waitperson had difficulty uncorking the bottle and decanted a fair amount of cork with the wine. After dinner we were presented with an bill for $91...I reluctantly signed for it because our waitperson wasn't comprehending when I pointed out we weren't advised of the up-charge. More about this later. On Sunday evening we had arranged a romantic beachfront dinner (an additional up-charge we planned) and it was perfect! We enjoyed our appetizer, soup, salad, entree and dessert while watching the sun set into the ocean. It was a bit windy that close to the water, but our waiter made the extra effort to light a pretty lantern, and the wind wasn't an issue. For our last dinner in the resort we chose Amaya, and it proved to be an excellent choice! The flavors are Domincan inspired, again very fresh, tasty ingredients that were artfully prepared. We both had the mushroom and crab appetizer, and lobster for our entree...both were absolutely delicious and the ambiance just added to the experience. Because our stay was so brief and we both needed to relax before returning to work, we really didn't do anything more than enjoy the beach and pool. And though our butler was attentive (without being intrusive) we didn't have an opportunity to put him to work much. He did address an issue with our shower the first morning and reconfirmed our return transfers. On the morning of our departure I called to have our luggage picked up, within minutes the bellhop came by to collect it. Upon check out at the front desk I brought up the issue with the wine purchase at Oleana. I explained that we were not told there would be an additional charge for the bottle of wine and likely would not have ordered it, you could partake of wine by the glass at no additional charge. Without pressing the issue, they agreed to discount the wine purchase to $21, which I thought was fair. We were able to wait for our transfer in the air-conditioned comfort of the coffee cafe. At the appointed time we returned to the lobby where our non-stop shuttle was waiting and we sadly said farewell to the tropical beauty that is Zoetry. If you've never experienced an all-inclusive or were apprehensive about visiting Punta Cana, fear no more and make your reservations for the Zoetry Agua Punta Cana, I assure you that you'll be very pleased with your choice. Both my husband and I both look forward to returning one day. Couple more notes, this is a tropical climate and we expected to see insects and mosquitoes, which the resort did spray for daily. I also brought bug repellent (which we never used) and we didn't see any bugs in our room. The sun is VERY strong, we only had a brief shower twice during our stay and it was at night. Do yourself a favor and bring 30SPF or better sunscreen lotion, you'll need it and it's expensive to purchase at the resort. We did drink the water provided in the restaurants and thankfully never experienced any issues or discomfort, but I did have Immodium just in case. This is a quiet, serene resort void of partiers and drunks and the clientele is predominantly American, English and European with few children which all contribute to the charm of this place.

I literally have nothing bad to say about this resort. It seems everything you want in a hotel, was there, and not only was it there, it exceeded expectations and the staff went above and beyond to ensure your stay was as good as it could be. Our butler, Juan, was such a lovely, friendly, kind and caring person, who we could contact at any time of the day or night. If you needed anything sorting out, he would get it done quickly and with no problems. Juan would always be around the hotel, and checking that we were okay and had everything we needed. He was very easy to contact - Via WhatsApp (over the hotel internet which you can get wherever you are in the resort). He was a friendly face who was our point of contact for the entire time - a brilliant additional touch to the already flawless service. Waiters and staff were all extremely friendly and helpful, welcoming us 'home' the second we arrived. The beds are very comfortable and the rooms are spacious and all seemed to have a decent view, wherever you were in the hotel. The pools are large and there are lots of spaces to relax and the hotel isn't too large which is great as it was never overcrowded. We didn't lift a finger for the entire time we were there which was perfect and exactly what was needed! A perfect holiday and resort all round, with Juan being the icing on the cake! We will definitely be returning ASAP!