GypsySpirit THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.
Ok so that might be a bit of an exaggeration. We were not that high but we were high enough to enjoy some quiet, peaceful mountain time in an area called “Barbacoa” between Las Terrenas and El Limon.
Isis (my 18 yo) had left us to go to Puerto Rico ahead of us so it was Jovan (my 15 yo) and I alone for the first time during this trip.
We had an airbnb apartment booked as our last stay since before we arrived in Dominican Republic (DR). During our second stay and in learning that Isis was leaving ahead of us, I decided to get something more compact and it was bothering Jovan that he didn’t have gym access for 2 1/2 weeks. There were public gyms in the area that you could pay by the hour or by the month. He tried one and said it was ok. The problem was I was no longer renting the ATV that Isis had been driving all of us around in and I didn’t feel like driving it. Don’t know why, I just didn’t. Even though I drove one just fine in Panama. That was 10 years ago though.
I thought of renting a motoconcho but I’ve never driven a scooter before and was worried I’d crash us into a tree somewhere, or worse yet into oncoming cars/motoconchos/ATVs. So, we were on foot and hopping on motoconchos, the preferred taxi choice, as needed. I went looking for a place with a gym so that Jovan would have his beloved workout time for the next 11 days.
I’d been looking in both airbnb and booking.com. I found this ecolodge in booking.com. It was further away from Las Terrenas where we’d been staying the last 2 1/2 weeks. I welcomed the change of pace. Jovan wanted to get away from the town also. So, I booked it and there we went.
The room I booked was small. Too small for our six suitcases we were carrying around since we also moved out of our place. Jovan has been carrying his custom-built gaming PC and all its accessories around. I’d been carrying our bathroom and kitchen around along with the clothes I thought I’d need in the next few months which was all summer clothes.
When they took us to the room it had one king size bed. I said “this isn’t going to work. we’re not a couple. he’s my son” The concierge also brought up the number of suitcases we brought and we would not be comfortable in that room for that reason alone. The ad actually said three beds.
Because of this mistake on the ad, they moved us to a studio. Thank you to whoever made the posting mistake! The studio was perfect with a large balcony that ran across the entire studio, a hammock, even a BBQ, table and chairs outside to enjoy the beautiful view, good-size closet, several shelves for our things, a full kitchen, which is always a plus, and two beds.
It was a nice place with a full restaurant, a pool and a gym. All confined in this fenced property up in the hill. You can also book spa services, yoga classes and excursions such as the one we did of Cayo Levantado y Los Haitises at your leisure
If you want to get away from cooking during your stay both this place and the Casita we stayed at offer meals on-site for extra.
We didn’t have that at Hotel Villas Las Palmas Del Mar during our first week’s stay and so we went to restaurants in the area during that time, which is I wanted. I only cooked a couple of days out of that stay.
This was exactly what the doctor (me!) ordered 🙂
This month in Las Terrenas, Samana in Dominican Republic was exactly the relaxation and pampering we needed.
You can book this ecolodge at:
