Michès Playa Esmeralda Dominican Republic

Superb facilities with utmost care for preservation of natural setting. Friendly atmosphere for families and adults alike and upscale dining experience. Had over the past few years sort of given up with Club med as disappointed by recent stays - such as Ixtapa. Miches has done much to restore my enthusiasm for the Club med experience. Will certainly be back. Kudos to the Chef de Village, Theo, whose enthusiasm and curtesy clearly were a big factor in our Miches atmosphere. Signed- a long time (40 years- more than 40 stays) Club med member.

After our first Club-Med experience we were hooked on Club-Med family vacations and wanted to return. Due to the fire at Punta Cana we decided to try Mitches. More expensive and further from the airport but we wanted to try.
Reading the reviews it made us apprehensive; sand fleas, mosquitos, undrinkable water bad weather and limited choice of food.
I am happy to announce none of this is a problem. We never saw (or felt) a sand flea or mosquito. (Keep your doors shut at night and if you go rolling in the sand take a shower after). The water was fine, weather was beautiful and the choice of fresh healthy food was amazing.
One of the best things about Mitches is the staff (GOs) who go above what is required. Personal, helpful and friendly! It feels like a fun place to work and as guest you always feel welcome. As we have two five-year-olds it is a great place for them as I aways felt safe even when they ran off ahead to the dinning room etc. The staff at the restaurants are wonderful from the servers to the head chef.
The kids club staff is all exceptional and great with the kids. After a few days they know them by name and interact even when they are not at the kids club. A special mention of Yara and Madi from the kids club staff, they were so attentive and a very positive addition to the family experience of Club Med. ( Yara even stopped by at 7:00am when we were leave to say goodbye – a nice touch). I am under no illusion that these are jobs but the staff seem have fun and do it very well so it has the right effect.
I could go on about all the other great things about Club-Med but I will just say that everything was just perfect; the room, beautiful pool and the beach and if it was the same price we would go to Mitches every time. We are hooked.

We are a 10+ Club Med vacation family so this review is based on comparisons to other properties and experiences.

First, the Club is very well run by the current CDV, Theo, who is everywhere all at once, as the best CDVs are. He greeted when we arrived and came onto the bus to say goodbye when we left. We saw him at the beach everyday and chatted with him everyday. When the CDV roams around the staff notices. Comparison is last ur at Columbus Isle where we he CDV was nowhere to be seen and the GOs were apathetic.

Yes, it is a long bus ride to the property. Can’t sugar cost this. The roads are not like our highways and road bumps and two lane roads mean you aren’t traveling particularly fast. There are about to be 4 more hotels in the area so this may change in time.

Beach— lovely. You can walk for miles in either direction. Water is calm. Plentiful shade — wooden structures are used with palm trees rather than umbrellas. We were there during a busy school holiday week and we had little trouble getting a spot. Beachbar — 2 of them.

Main pool is fine as these things go. Always hard to find a seat because families camp out there since the bar is there as well as the snack shack. Aqua gym was fine but I was happy to run away from the babies the minute it was done.

Zen pool is off by itself away from the ocean so we spent little time there once we got into our ocean groove. Did have the best drinks there though.

Room— best one I have been in at a Club. We stayed in the Emerald Jungle area and really appreciated the wooden flooring, rainshower, and closet space. So glad CM has upped their in room tea and coffee game. One thing - minor- the toilet is a separate room so you need to touch a door handle to keave it and walk to the rest of the bathroom to wash your hands. Also the light is motion sensitive and ours was in a short timer. Was in the dark frequently. For the future we would not stay in the Zen area. The rooms closer to the beach had balconies with loungers and views. We had two chairs and a view of the encroaching jungle.

Dining was good. Always a variety like other Clubs. I’d say the breads and desserts were not as good as Cancun or Columbus Isle. Lots of raw fish offerings everyday — not for me! And I was overall disappointed that more local cuisine was not offered. I miss food theme nights! OHHH coffee bar is a serious plus. Really loves getting icy mochas.

I was super worried about ice cubes and fresh fruit but was absolutely fine. Didn’t chance the salad bar. Bottled water for teeth brushing for sure.

Crowd was a mix of French and Americans from what we could tell. Seemed a more upscale crowd than other Caribbean/Mexico locations.

Fitness classes were plentiful. The yoga palapa is the nicest I have been in, up in the trees. Tennis instruction was fine—suffered from folks selecting a more advanced class than they should have so we were definitely overcrowded. One instructor did the bare minimum (and that’s who I had that week) so it felt more like a cardio class than tennis instruction but we made up for it with some serious family pickleball on the courts.

I think this is a great property and look forward to a return trip. If you have been to Cancun or Punta Cana and want something nicer choose Miches.

Andro was the best DJ! He had the best mixes and listened to song requests, he was amazing!! we had the best time at club med and the beach is amazing. I 100% recommend and especially going to the show at night and staying for the party after. Andro was so good!!!

I read all the reviews before I went - this was an amazing family vacation and I wanted to report back:
Pros: classes / fitness instructors were amazing, food was perfect, pools, top notch childcare (A+++ child care), beds were the most comfy, all the employees were kind/helpful, free laundry, transfer from/to airport were very well organized.
Points of interest: WATER: you can tell there was a flood, however the company has really taken effort to update / retrofit the structures, long term they will need to figure out a re-routing of water, this did NOT impact our vacation at all but it was in other reivews. Bugs: we were not really bothered by the bugs and it wasn't an issue for us, we saw two cockroaches in our room but it was due to kids leaving door open, it's NORMAL for this type of climate, not an issue. MUSIC: we were in room 601 and if you go you will see this room is RIGHT next to the DJ booth, I am wondering why the music was so close to the family area of the resort, we had airplugs (thankfully) and by 11:45 most night the music was finished, bring ear plugs.

TIP: earplugs, candle for your room (musty due to humidity), dress up for the theme nights, do the classes - they are SO fun and organized!