Caso de Campo Resort and Villas, Dominican Republic
Caso de Campo resort and villas set in 7,000 acres, is a holiday destination in its own right. No chance of getting bored here with three golf courses, horse riding, polo, tennis courts, water sports centre, clay pigeon shooting, fitness centre, spa, swimming pools – one with swim up bar - and for those lounge-in-the-sun folks, there’s a beach around three kilometres away. It is family-friendly too, offering an array of supervised kids’ activities including basketball, table tennis and puppet shows and offers a professional nanny service for younger children. Yes, quite. The whole shebang, in fact.
So here we were after a nine-and-a-bit-hour flight from London and an easy 45-minute transfer to the resort from Punta Cana airport. A friendly welcome was waiting for us in the busy reception area along with a glass of prosecco. ‘It isn’t champagne’, smiled the receptionist, 'but it goes down well with our guests’.
Casa de Campo. located in the historic sugar mill town of La Romana, opened around 50 years ago to an illustrious crowd of VIPs. Back then notables including Michael Douglas, Henry Kissinger, Joe DiMaggio and ‘ole blue eyes’ Frank Sinatra frequented the resort, flying in to Casa’s own airstrip in their private jets. These days it caters more for your everyday holidaymaker, most hail from north and south America, the rest from Europe.
Golf is the main draw and many visitors come to play on one of the three world class courses – the main one, Teeth of the Dog, is considered the Caribbean's best course. (Bill Clinton image above (c) Mairobi Herrera /Cristian Pittaro; provided by Casa de Campo)
Casa de Campo. located in the historic sugar mill town of La Romana, opened around 50 years ago to an illustrious crowd of VIPs. Back then notables including Michael Douglas, Henry Kissinger, Joe DiMaggio and ‘ole blue eyes’ Frank Sinatra frequented the resort, flying in to Casa’s own airstrip in their private jets. These days it caters more for your everyday holidaymaker, most hail from north and south America, the rest from Europe.
Golf is the main draw and many visitors come to play on one of the three world class courses – the main one, Teeth of the Dog, is considered the Caribbean's best course. (Bill Clinton image above (c) Mairobi Herrera /Cristian Pittaro; provided by Casa de Campo)
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(above heliport image (c) Shawn Talbot Photography provided by Casa de Campo) buggies image above (c) Gilly Pickup
Visitors to this super-sized resort can choose to rent a villa or if preferred, opt for one of the 247 hotel rooms as we did. These rooms vary in size and type, ours was spacious, decked out in contemporary wood furnishings and a hugely comfortable bed, 42-inch LCD TV, Nespresso machine, bathroom with L’Occitane toiletries and complimentary wi-fi. A small balcony furnished with two chairs, table and - a rather quaint touch - an ash tray and box of matches, overlooked a golf course. Due to the resort’s size, a four-seater buggy is included in guests’ package.
Unfortunately, only one restaurant was open in the hotel grounds during our stay– the Lago buffet restaurant – the other, La Cana, was being refurbished as was the Minitas beach restaurant. However, we also enjoyed the pleasant café/ bar the 19th Hole. It has a limited, though tasty, sandwich menu, super-friendly staff and as you might guess from the name, looks over one of the golf courses stretching to the glittering Caribbean sea.
Of course there are other restaurants within the resort where guests can eat the atlas if they choose – Mexican, Italian, Spanish, Asian - and a couple of upscale food trucks too. However, because they are between five and seven kilometres away from the hotel, getting there means hopping in the aforementioned buggy. Guests are warned that as you have to travel along what are essentially main roads to reach them, it’s obviously a no-no to even think about drinking and driving. So, if you want to enjoy a glass of wine or two with dinner, the sensible alternative is drive your buggy to reception and wait for the hotel shuttle service. In the evenings, this operates intermittently, but on average arrives every half hour or so.
Visitors to this super-sized resort can choose to rent a villa or if preferred, opt for one of the 247 hotel rooms as we did. These rooms vary in size and type, ours was spacious, decked out in contemporary wood furnishings and a hugely comfortable bed, 42-inch LCD TV, Nespresso machine, bathroom with L’Occitane toiletries and complimentary wi-fi. A small balcony furnished with two chairs, table and - a rather quaint touch - an ash tray and box of matches, overlooked a golf course. Due to the resort’s size, a four-seater buggy is included in guests’ package.
Unfortunately, only one restaurant was open in the hotel grounds during our stay– the Lago buffet restaurant – the other, La Cana, was being refurbished as was the Minitas beach restaurant. However, we also enjoyed the pleasant café/ bar the 19th Hole. It has a limited, though tasty, sandwich menu, super-friendly staff and as you might guess from the name, looks over one of the golf courses stretching to the glittering Caribbean sea.
Of course there are other restaurants within the resort where guests can eat the atlas if they choose – Mexican, Italian, Spanish, Asian - and a couple of upscale food trucks too. However, because they are between five and seven kilometres away from the hotel, getting there means hopping in the aforementioned buggy. Guests are warned that as you have to travel along what are essentially main roads to reach them, it’s obviously a no-no to even think about drinking and driving. So, if you want to enjoy a glass of wine or two with dinner, the sensible alternative is drive your buggy to reception and wait for the hotel shuttle service. In the evenings, this operates intermittently, but on average arrives every half hour or so.
Nearby, Altos de Chavon, a replica 16th century Mediterranean village built in 1983 (pic opposite (c) Brett Winter Lemon Photography provided by Casa de Campo) is part of the Casa de Campo resort complex. For a small fee the hotel runs a daily shuttle service here. Altos has restaurants, a couple of shops, small museum, artists’ studios and church but its piece de resistance is the amphitheatre, a concert venue. Frank Sinatra was the first to perform here, since then it has seen Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Duran Duran and Julio Iglesias grace the stage. It must have been sensational when singer Alicia Keys was filming part of her video ‘Karma’ and a hot pink piano was dropped via helicopter in front of astonished onlookers. During my visit preparations were
being made for an 80s REO Speedwagon concert . Read more about lovely Casa de Campo here https://www.holidaymag.co.uk/casa-de-campo.html
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being made for an 80s REO Speedwagon concert . Read more about lovely Casa de Campo here https://www.holidaymag.co.uk/casa-de-campo.html
Return to features index