Casa de Campo
A 7,000-Acre Retreat in The Dominican Republic
by Holly Reich
Think you can't have a romantic getaway with kids along? Think again. Resorts like Casa de Campo give couples private time and kids an experience they'll always cherish.

Some resorts are so intimate that you get to know the entire property in one afternoon (drink in hand, of course!). And then there are places like Casa de Campo, a 7,00- acre resort on the Southeastern Coast of the Dominican Republic, where it could take you weeks to explore (and many drinks). It’s locations like this where one can be delightfully anonymous.

In fact, Casa De Campo, "Country House" in Spanish, has been described as a small country. Located outside La Romana, a sleepy town with a newly opened cruise port, Casa De Campo has its roots in something sweet--sugar. The property, originally purchased in 1911 by Puerto Rico Sugar Company, evolved into a resort in the early 70’s with Teeth of the Dog a seaside golf course, Appointed #1 in the Caribbean by Golf Magazine, the Links and Dye Fore have since joined the roster of famous courses. BTW--the week we were visiting, Bill Clinton was doing his rounds.

To adequately describe this diverse property in less than 1,000 words in a visually enticing way is a prospect as overwhelming as trying to cover the whole resort in one week. (I’ll just take a deep breath and plunge in!)

The main hotel area is a lofty thatch-roofed open-air environment with shops, restaurants, bars and double-tiered swimming pools surrounding a tropically planted courtyard. We had several dinners at Tropicana, which serves delicious skirt steak and has BBQ ribs and sirloin steak on the kid’s menu. Off the main area there’s intimate groupings of 300 Mediterranean-style garden guest- rooms (red roofs, white stucco, inlaid tiles) with individual balconies or patios.

If you’re traveling in a group, I would suggest a villa. There were 8 of us including 5 kids ages 9-12 and 3 parents. Our vast 4-bedroom had a separate wing for the kids, ceiling fans and air-conditioning, a swimming pool and a well-kept garden. The butler, Freddy, and housekeeper, Lourdes prepared huge Dominican style or American breakfasts, kept the house clean, the towels replenished, closed the shutters to the afternoon sun and basically became part of our family. Lourdes entertained the kids by chasing down geckos and Freddy remembered all the details (like having my hot milk and coffee ready by the swimming pool every morning). I was spoiled!

It would have been more than easy to stay at the villa all day every day. But we decided to take in the Casa experience. To get around, most people use golf carts that cruise along at 15 mph (available for rent or they come free with a villa) or shuttle buses which don’t necessarily run on schedule.

We spent mornings at Minitas, a beach cove with little huts for outdoor massage, merengue lessons, and trinket shopping. The beach boys set up cushy chairs for us to lull on. There’s also snorkeling, windsurfers, kayaks, and snorkeling. If you are an avid snorkeler or scuba diver ask about Catalina Island. Our 12-year-olds took a beginning scuba course with an excellent instructor who was extremely patient and caring. To note: There are no jet skis or parasailing at Minitas (ahhh…the quiet) but there is banana boating if you crave the rush! The beachside bar and restaurant, El Pescador, serves everything from hamburger and fries to mahi and the food was quite good.

Many of our afternoons were spent at La Terraza Tennis Center, a 12-acre club with dividing stone walls and a brick stadium in a pre-Columbian village like setting. Along with 13 Fast–dry har-tru-courts (10 lit for night play), there’s also a swimming pool, snack shop and changing rooms. The instructors were fabulous and our boys had a terrific time playing handball with a group of local ball boys.

One morning we put our 9-year-olds in the kid’s center ($31 per day including lunch, free with all-inclusive package) to go horseback riding at the Equestrian Center which has 40 riding horses, 15 jumping horses, 80 polo ponies and polo matches during the season. It’s a facility for serious riders.

They girls came back with smiling reports on how the camp counselors "were just like us".

The year-round children’s program, which is divided into groups for ages 4-7 and 8-12, has bi-lingual counselors and activities that make use of the resort. The older kids (13-18) can hang the clubhouse, El Bonche, a rec room/hut with computers, pool table, ping-pong, movies, karaoke, big screen TV and free Email.

The shooting center looks like it came out of a Moroccan movie set. The outdoor restaurant /bar has carved wooden furniture covered in restful tropical fabrics. The kids took a skeet-shooting lesson with Omar, who teased them about "dancing meringue" instead of standing still and watching the clay pigeon.

Casa de Camp is full of places to explore. There’s Altos de Chavon, a village in the cliffs above the Chavon River, home to an art school that partners with New York City’s Parsons School Of Design. It was constructed in 1976 by local artisans, under direction of Roberto Copa, the Italian cinematographer. No, this is not Disneyland. In fact, the handcrafted cobblestone streets, stone carvings, grotto fountains, and Spanish architecture indeed give Altos the feel of a 16th century Mediterranean Village.

One night we ate dinner while serenaded by musicians on the stone terrace of La Piazzetta, a Northern Italian restaurant. After dinner the kids played with some kitties and a burro in the main square and then we sat on stone steps at the 5,000 seat open air amphitheatre which has hosted personalities like Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, and Shakira, who owns a place at the resort. After the show that evening all got on stage and danced with the performers.

Another night we took a sunset cruise and feasted on steamed dumplings, crab sushi, etc. etc. at La Chinois at the Marina and Yacht Club. This Porto Fino-like town by the sea has sherbet colored townhouses, chic European shops, and outdoor restaurants surrounding a courtyard where everyone—including crawling toddlers-- converged at night.

Did I cover it all? Not yet. The rest is for you to find out.

And you should know…there are clean, well-decorated bathrooms everywhere, not everyone at Casa is bilingual so it helps to have some knowledge of Spanish, bugs are abundant so bring your spray, service is slow but waiters are very kind, friendly and do not pressure you.

You can fly direct to La Romana International Airport. Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo or Punta Cana International Airport are a 75-minute drive.

For More Information:

(800) 877-3643
www.casadecampo.cc

Holly Reich is a travel and automotive writer based in Manhattan.

All text copyright Holly Reich. No part of this article may be reproduced without written permission from the author.