La Sérénité

All guests must register with the Casa de Campo Concierge office, and for a small daily fee ($30 per adult per night & $15 per child per night), are granted access to resort areas and amenities. Casa de Campo Resort facilities and amenities include golf courses ($), the fitness centre ($), racquet center ($), restaurants ($) and bars ($). Contact Rental Escapes for more information about pricing.

Step out of La Serenite with a beach bag and Minitas is a short walk through the resort to the sand. Four bedrooms sleep eight in a Los Lagos garden villa, with an included cook handling all the meals. The fit: a family with kids who'll spend the day at the beach, two couples on a long weekend, or a friend group who want the beach and a real home base without a sprawling estate.

Mornings start with the walk back from the beach, wet feet on the travertine deck. The centennial shade tree covers the pool wide enough that the hottest hour of the day stays the coolest spot on the patio. Lunches go at the round table in the shade. The heated jacuzzi is the post-swim soak that runs all year. By afternoon the kids are in the water and the adults in the loungers.

The walk to Minitas Beach is the closest of any Los Lagos villa, short enough to take on foot or a cart with the cooler. Teeth of the Dog — ranked the Caribbean's top course by the World Golf Awards — and The Links are a short cart ride up the road for the round. Altos de Chavón is a short ride up the cliff for the evening on the river, with cobblestone streets and music from the amphitheatre. La Serenite is the villa to book when the trip is about the beach and the shade, with someone else handling the meals — not a beachfront villa where the lawn ends at the sand.