Temptation Grand Miches Trip Report: December, 2022
Dec 13-20, 2022
Arrival into the Punta Cana airport went smoothly. We had to wait in line for a while at Immigration, but they were pretty busy at Customs and were waving people through without scanning their bags.
It was a little difficult to find our Punta Cana Limo Transfer driver, but that may have been because we were 40 minutes early. We had to ask a couple of locals who and where they were, but soon as we found the right person we had our vehicle there in just a few minutes. The driver spent some time in New York, so he spoke perfect English and was able to narrate the drive and answer questions. The vehicle was a newer Chevy Suburban, very nice, very smooth riding and the driver got us to Temptations Grand Miches quite quickly considering the distance. It was a good ride back to the airport also.
We arrived at Temptation Grand on December 13th, only the fourth day they were open, staying for 7 days. The resort is very beautiful, the rooms are wonderful, staff is amazing, as is the food. Probably only about 30% of the rooms are filled so the staff to guest ratio is probably four or five to one. At Temptation Miches, which is next door and had also just opened, was probably only 10% full. We really can't say enough good things about the staff. They were helpful, friendly, courteous, kind and seemed happy to be there. They were great! Probably the best service we have encountered in 15+ years of traveling to the Caribbean and around North America.
I believe our room was the least expensive for the resort and it was still quite amazing. The bathroom was almost as large as some hotel rooms I have been in. Decorations are all nice, the bed was comfortable, there was a safe, refrigerator, hair dryer, clothing steamer, coffee maker, robes and slippers. The finish work in the room is a bit sloppy, but it is just cosmetic. The only bad thing to say about the room is there was no Kleenex and the toilet paper is scented, so in reality, nothing to complain about. Our sliding glass door to our room did not lock initially, but as soon as we told them about it someone was there to fix it immediately.
We were able to move freely between the two resorts. Grand does not have a fitness center, but Temptations Miches does, and it is very well appointed. There are treadmills, a bicycle trainer, an elliptical machine, a rowing machine, barbells, dumbbells and about 20 pieces of Precor exercise equipment.
For the moment, the breakfast and lunch dining options are limited to a buffet, with a few ala carte offerings and food was good at both. At dinner both restaurants were open at Grand, but no buffet. Suki has hibachi (by reservation) and ala carte dining options. Sahla has a variety of cuisines. Both were excellent! Temptations Miches seemed to have two of the six restaurants open each night. We dined at Amores and Flame. Neither required reservations. Both had good food, but we preferred the dining at Grand. All of the bars we used served good, or really good, drinks. No shortage of alcohol in the drinks. There is also a snack bar with coffee, desserts, fruit and sandwiches.
The lounge chair area at the beach at Temptations Grand is very beautiful and secluded but does not have a view of the ocean. You can hear the waves and walk a few yards to see the ocean. The beach and chairs at Temptation Miches is right on the water and absolutely gorgeous. The beach is wide and sandy. The ocean water temperature was warmer than the pools and very enjoyable. Both beach areas seemed to be the quietest location at their respective resort. There are no water sports such as kayaks, paddle boards or even floaties, which is a bummer for us because we like to stay active. You can walk for at least a mile on the beach and comfortably do so barefooted.
Neither of the resorts were completely finished so there was a little bit of noise from the construction, but nothing too annoying, except for when they were working on the room next door to us. Grand is the more intimate hotel, with only 114 rooms. Temptation Miches is bigger, brighter and bolder. It has 300+ rooms. The pool at Grand is very nice but was a little on the chilly side. It is topless optional. The Jacuzzi is up one level and is large. It wasn't heated when we first got here but they finally got it heated up after a few days, to mid 90s. This area is clothing optional. Music at the pool and jacuzzi were usually pretty good but in the afternoon for some reason it got louder and louder. They were playing different music at the pool and the Jacuzzi, and since they're right next to each other it was a little bit irritating. Temptation Miches has two pools. One large one with music playing and another smaller one that is the Quiet Pool. The Quiet Pool is made with yellow tiles so it looks like it is lined with algae. Poor choice of color but it was clean and refreshing. They were quietly playing an 80's rock soundtrack every time we passed by. Entertainment at Grand in the evening was usually live a music and dancing show for about an hour and then they invite the guests to dance after that. The music is loud but that is to be expected with live music. It doesn't start until 9:30. We only went to Temptation once for the entertainment but the music was so loud it literally hurt our ears and we didn't stay long. The nightly entertainment there starts at 10:30. Picking your room location is very important unless you want stay up until all the music is done, which usually lasts until 1 am or later.
There are a few off-site tours available, including horse riding, hiking, ATV tours and some water tours. It appeared that most of the water related tours were based out of Punta Cana.
We did not find anything on the resort website about theme nights but after we got here one of the guests told us to go to Temptation-experience.com and they are listed there.
Our suggestions to make the resort better is to turn the continuous music down to background level allowing for conversations, turn the live music down so as not to cause permanent hearing damage, and offer water sports for the ocean.
We had a great time, give the resorts high marks and really appreciate the awesome staff.