The Palace is the most beautiful, serene and welcoming place we've ever been to. It is perfect for a couple in need of relaxation, and romanticism. The staff is outstanding, attentive to all your needs. The food was delicious, and quickly served. Our room, the 3rd floor suite with jacuzzi on the balcony, was gorgeous, comfortable and so spacious. the bathroom was very nice as well, other than a lack of good light for make up and such. Our favorite part was how special we felt the whole time thanks to Cynthia and Felipe, who helped us plan fun outings. Felipe drove us everywhere we wanted, so we had our own, very patient, funny, and so kind driver! So much better than going with the tour guide. We went to the Monkey Jungle in Sosua, and recommend this one to everyone. It is a free clinic and dental care for the poor, financed by a zip line adventure and a monkey jungle for tourists. It is a very nice place, with very happy monkeys! The staff is also super nice there, we had a great time. We also went scuba diving at the Northern Coast Scuba Center in Sosua. They offer a very affordable discovery course, so anyone can enjoy the under sea life and beauty! The center is owned and ran by Michael, originally from New York, who was so helpful and kind as well. It was such a wonderful experience. For those of you who are afraid of bringing cash versus credit card, you will NEED cash to tip everybody (many different staff members every day), and you will be charged an extra 16% fee where you can use your credit card. So, cash is the way to go (we know that now!). Go take a quick Spanish course before you leave, because English speakers are few there. This was the best vacation we've had so far, and we plan on going back as soon as we can afford another trip! The Palace does not disappoint!

The Palace @ Playa Grade was simply AMAZING! The suites were as pictured, beautiful, clean & well cared for. The staff was even more so....fun, more than accommodating, everyone went out of their way to make your vacation memorable.....I actually miss their smiling faces....The Dominican Republic is a poor country, however, the people are humble & go out of their way to make you feel welcome. I had future plans to visit other countries yet seen, but if the opportunity arises again, we will definitely return to the Palace! The only vacation where I truly relaxed, not too mention in such luxury.

My Best to all of the individuals @ The Palace,

Melissa Windle & Greg Rocks

We had never been to the Dominican Republic so I did a lot of research prior to finding our ultimate getaway. There are so many all inclusives to choose from, but we hate the idea of sitting on a beach and fighting for buffet food with 300 other people, and then the Palace showed up on my search and we booked right away. All inclusive, food and alcohol, but only 13 rooms. That's more our style!! So glad we went...this place is a true luxurious getaway. It is a bit odd when you drive up, as you are staying in an Indian Palace in a tropical Caribbean island. A bit surreal at first but easy to get used to! Sharing the place with 8 other couples isn't really that hard to take. Our days started off with coffee on our gorgeous jacuzzi oceanfront patio- just sitting in beautiful stuffed white cushioned chairs staring at the ocean. The patios were huge and beatifully furnished. Then we would walk down to breakfast, pick a lovely table on the patio to sit at and meet our lovely Cynthia, whose smile would start anyone's day off right. After breakfast, I typically sat by the pool watching the peacocks while I waited for my partner to play golf at the course next door. He would join me for our three course lunch then we would wander down to the beach which was always our private beach -we would drag the lounge chairs down to the waters edge and have the water wash in under our chairs. Private, waves crashing, and the water was gorgeous, turquoise and warm. They have kayaks to take out to explore the rocky coast line but sitting in the chairs watching the waves pour over the sand was more my style. A few hours on the beach, we would then stroll back up to the pool for poolside cocktails hand crafted for you by Carlos or Javier, true gentlemen who are so accommodating and will do anything for you. Felipe is another wonderful staff member who created special memories for us on our trip. Dinner was a more elegant fare, the women at the resort liked to dress up in their summer dresses although it wasn't formal in any way, shorts were fine too!! Dinner was another 3 course meal, nothing extremely fancy as far as fine dining goes, but locally grown, fresh, and DR style. You are in the DR, that's what you should expect! They had two BBQ events (lobster tails anyone?) while we were there with a trio of musicians singing for you. An earlier review complained about this, we thought it was wonderful and we have a soft spot for any musician sharing their craft. They were delightful and added an authentic touch of DR to our trip. You could easily not go anywhere for the week as the place was so beautiful (why leave??!!) although we managed to go see the nearby towns, the lagoon, the beaches and even went horseback riding with one of the staff through the hilly farmland and small towns. That was amazing!
Yes, we would definitely go back and as we shared our week with others at the airport on our way home, we made a lot of people jealous of our very positive DR experience. We loved our time at The Palace. Juan Carlos who oversees the Palace was also very accommodating and a gracious host.

First let me start off by saying that this villa is one of the most elaborate and beautiful places I have ever been to. Every single piece of wood in the place is hand carved from India. The villa took 8 years to build and was very well thought out. We stayed on the third floor with a wonderful ocean view and huge Jacuzzi tub on the balcony. We had two balconies one with a view of the pool, and the other with the view of the ocean. Absolutely breathtaking!

The Villa is all open air and the rooms have wall units, if you stay in one of the huge rooms like we did the AC doesn’t always keep up with the heat. The smaller rooms however stay nice and cool. Our bathroom was huge with a shower that about 8 people could fit in! Everything here is grand and beautiful!

The staff that work at the villa are amazing and work very hard! We loved the people there. Javier and Charlie were our helpers in the afternoon and evening, Phillipe and Cynthia took care of us in the morning. Ramona always made sure that our clothes were cleaned and ready for us to wear. If you put your dirty clothes in the hamper Ramona will take care of them for you. Just remember to tip well! We always felt welcome and taken care of. The staff here do not disappoint and they will make sure that whatever you want, you get. The manager Juan Carlos is so kind and again, takes care of your every wish.

I had high expectations coming here just from what I had read online and seen. They definitely exceeded my expectations, and this does not happen often. I recommend getting the meal and drink plan so that you don’t have to worry about the cost. EVERY single meal we ate here was enjoyable and delicious. Their food was amazingly fresh and a lot of the meals were made from fruits and veggies that are grown on the property. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was like a feast and they always served amazing desserts. We loved their fish and well really every single meal. I loved the drink that Charlie would make me “dirty banana” yum yum…..made from the bananas they grow right there and couldn’t be better. I highly recommend having their fresh juices as they are so precious and amazing….not like the fruit juice we have in the states. I am really missing that pineapple juice!

The beach here is gorgeous although for some people staying there they thought it was too rough for them, there is a nice beach 3 min away that Phillipe can tell you about and they will take you there and pick you up for free. You do have to walk down a spiral staircase, so I could see this being a challenge for older people or those with disabilities. But it is well worth it! This villa has so many places to explore and see, it is an adventure just walking around the property. They also have peacocks that live here, they are gorgeous but they do make a lot of noise. We found it entertaining, but they can wake you up early.

We recommend having the staff take you where you need to go, we rented a car from POP and drove to the villa to save some money. It was about an hour and definitely an experience. If you have never driven in a third world country it could be stressful for you, especially if you do not speak Spanish. Honestly everything you need is within 5 miles from the resort and they take you anywhere within that range for free. Next time we will probably not rent a car. There are no rules and signs and directions like we have in the states. You are kind of on your own here. Also the roads are terrible and at one point we had to fix the bumper because we hit a huge bump and it knocked off halfway. Also do your best to learn some Spanish before coming and really use it when here, the Staff speak English pretty well but most other people here speak little to no English.

My husband and I got married here and we really enjoyed it, and everyone was so kind and helpful that we had nothing to worry about! It was also very inexpensive., but it was also just me and him. We made friends with all of the other guests and it was nice because you had some social time. They also all came to the wedding! It was great. It is kind of hard not to make friends with other people here because the place is so small.

Also you must, must, must, get a massage while here, it was one of the best that I have ever had!

Something to note is that Phillipe can help you with anything that you may need whether it is an excursion or going into town. I recommend bringing plenty of cash so that you do not need to worry about when you get here. Also they do accept US dollars however it was much easier to purchase things in pesos because you don’t have to fool with a conversion. But tips and things are easily given in US dollars.

The villa is very safe, as it is completely fenced and there is an armed guard at the gate, please remember that when going outside of the resort to be smart about it. I wouldnt go into town alone.

Some cons are that the internet was a little slow, and only available in certain common areas, but we didn’t really need the internet here…..we completely disconnected. Also they have a lot of bugs and very LARGE bugs. Again, we didn’t really have too much of an issue with this because they don’t bother you, but you will see them around in the evening. That is about all of the Cons! Not too many lol!


All in all this was a wonderful trip and we do plan to return here! Thank you to the amazing staff and we miss you all!