From pools and kids’ clubs to Dominican food, beach time and activities for parents, here’s what families can expect at Grand Palladium Select Bávaro.
The folks in my weekly neighborhood walk group — a mix of about 40 kids, teens and adults — stopped in front of a house earlier this summer to watch a couple of roosters scuttle around the fenced-in front yard. While the kids oohed and aahed, a few of us adults got captivated by what was growing out of the lush vines covering the fence and trailing the sidewalk: passion fruit.
Juan picked one of the loosely hanging purple-red spheres and tore it open with his thumbnails. He handed me a half, and I brought the bed of gelatinous goodness to my nose, inhaling its distinct scent: sweet but also musky, earthy and sharp.
The kids were intrigued. They gawked at the inside of the fruit — little seeds wrapped in a strange, jellylike substance — and asked, “What is that? What does it taste like?”
I slurped the golden pulp, closing my eyes to concentrate on its contrasting explosion of sweet and sour, cool and stinging to the tongue. “It’s delicious,” I said. “Try it!”
They bent to grab passion fruit that had fallen to the ground, and for the rest of our walk, they indulged in their newfound treasures, an ancient food being discovered for the first time.
A few weeks later, I was eating passion fruit for breakfast some 3,200 miles away in Punta Cana, and the scent and taste sent me right back to my South L.A. neighborhood. I imagined my young neighbors gliding their way down one of the breakfast buffets at the all-inclusive Grand Palladium Select Bávaro, eyeing already-halved passion fruit with a squeal of recognition before sliding it onto their trays. Called chinola in the Dominican Republic, the passion fruit there has a yellow-green rind, grows larger and carries slightly more citrusy notes — familiar and new.
And that is what I most love about travel, particularly traveling with children: How a single sensory experience can erase thousands of miles, linking one place to another and opening the door to conversations about history, culture, memory and discovery.
Traveling from L.A. to the Dominican Republic
The Dominican population in L.A. is less than 0.2%, but Dominicans make up the fastest-growing Hispanic Caribbean group in L.A. One day, perhaps, we’ll get a direct flight from L.A. to the Dominican Republic, but for now there are dozens of connecting routes. At the crack of dawn in late July, I boarded a plane to Denver, then caught a connecting flight to Punta Cana, which sits on the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
It was a long travel day, but as I walked through Punta Cana International Airport, I was refreshed by its bounty of art, especially the carnival statues and towering colorful sculptures representing the traditional Dominican muñecas Limé. These faceless ceramic dolls symbolize the country’s cultural and ethnic diversity, a kaleidoscope of Indigenous, African and European roots.
I was mesmerized by one painted an illuminating green with globules of brick-red paint running in and around her torso. The artist, Angurria, wrote in his statement: “It’s the blood that runs through our veins that makes us who we are, and just like hot lava, it flows and takes over everything [it] lands on. Dominicans are just like that … Their music and culture are part of that lava …”
His words followed me as I climbed into my driver’s van and as we drove about 30 minutes to Grand Palladium Select Bávaro resort, which is located in the northern part of Punta Cana along the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. I watched other vehicles, people, billboards and businesses whiz past my window. A lava flow of culture, music, food and stories.
A private, VIP experience for families
As I sauntered up to the Grand Palladium Select Bávaro’s open lobby, the night air was humid and electric, jolting me with a dose of new energy. Staff members attended to each of my needs within a matter of minutes. One wheeled away my mint-green bag, giving me a tag to retrieve it later. Another led me to the lobby’s ATM machine after I told him I needed to get some cash. Yet another ushered me, a guest of the resort there to learn about its VIP family experience, to a special check-in lounge for Family Selection at Grand Palladium Select Bávaro.
The resort and three others — Grand Palladium Punta Cana, Grand Palladium Palace and TRS Turquesa (adults only) — make up Grand Palladium Hotels & Resorts. This interconnected network stretches across some 80 acres and includes nine pools, 14 restaurants, boutiques, play areas, thatched roof outdoor bars (including one named after a famous liquor-loving scribe: Ernest Hemingway) and easy beach access.
But there’s no need to get swallowed up in the magnitude of it all, parents. The Family Selection lounge offers much more than private check-in: long, chic sofas, a snack bar stocked with muffins, plantain chips, fruit, granola bars, coffee, milk and juices, a self-serve candy station and a separate kids’ club.
As an agent checked me in and tried to help me understand the property map, I appreciated how contained the space was, allowing children to grab snacks and hop around freely while their parents took care of check-in logistics or lounged on the sofas.
Each family is assigned to a family host, receives a welcome kit for kids and a beach and pool amenity kit, babysitting services (for an extra charge) and priority restaurant reservations. If you’d like packing and unpacking help, they can arrange that as well. My host, Franklin, showed me my large room, with a generous living area, large closets, a California king bed, a massive bathroom warmed by wooden shutters and a patio with a clothes hanger — a perfect touch since every day on the resort is a pool and beach day.
We exchanged WhatsApp information, and he sent me daily texts about workshops and play opportunities, answered last-minute questions and got me to my spa treatment early enough to enjoy the hydrotherapy circuit before my massage.
Waking with the birds in Punta Cana
In the mornings, I like to rise with the birds, even when I’m traveling in a different time zone. And the birds — perhaps parrots, herons and palmchats — at this resort make a big and beautiful chorus. On my first morning, around 5:30 a.m., I slid open my patio’s sliding glass door, eager to explore while most people were still sleeping.
When I looked at the rest of the buildings, though, I realized they all looked the same, so I dipped back into my room to grab something to put on my patio table — a coffee creamer — which would serve as a little breadcrumb to bring me back home.
My clever trick did not work. After walking with the birds, taking pictures and video, I turned to make my way back to my room and … kept turning and turning for at least 30 minutes or so before, finally, finding my way home again.
So don’t be like me: Hopping on the plane and arriving without familiarizing yourself with its ecosystem. You’re going to want to keep your paper map on you, as well as download the app, to help you get around … unless, like me, you enjoy getting lost and, eventually, finding your way after a bevy of twists and turns.
Biggest resort benefit: Adult time + family time
An ideal day: mornings and afternoons with kids; evenings for some adult play. In addition to games and other activities for kids, teen and kids’ clubs, Family Selection has its own pools (including one with a swim-up bar), Bali beds and water activities such as paddle yoga. I was supposed to try it, but I chose to be a journalist instead, taking photos and videos of the daring souls who attempted Warrior 2 and tree pose on their paddles.
The pool scene reminded me of my neighborhood walk group, alive with multigenerational fun: kids playing, adults sipping cocktails, a woman (me) doing water aerobics. As I took it all in, I was surprised to find myself settling into the resort life instead of itching to get off the compound. We tend to think of luxury travel as happening away from children: quiet pools, grown-up restaurants, uninterrupted spa treatments. But for tired parents, luxury isn’t necessarily about escaping from your family; it’s about having few decisions to make and everyone still having a ball.
Speaking of spa treatments, though, make sure to book your Zentropia spa appointment at check-in (or before) — and arrive at least an hour before your appointment to bask in a whirlwind of hydrotherapy moving you from warm to cold and back again: showers, sauna, steam room, ice bath, jacuzzi, bucket shower, mud bath. It was one of the best spa experiences I’ve ever had.
That night, I donned a botanical-print pantsuit, a clutch, big gold and chartreuse earrings and went out for a night on the town —which was just a golf cart ride away to Chic Cabaret for a multi-course tasting menu and astounding cabaret show featuring dancers, singers, aerialists and acrobats.
The following night, after a day that included rest, reading, beach time and a Mama Juana and rum mixology session that got me and some new friends cackling and dancing, I enjoyed a special Dominican dinner — Sancocho cream soup, crispy pork stuffed with moro (rice and beans) on top of a creamy yuca puree, yuca and coconut flan with a sugarcane-caramel syrup — at First, Wine restaurant.
Before dinner, I danced with the entertainers: a woman in a folkloric dress and a man in a Dominican straw hat and traditional merengue attire. I was talking to a new friend when he pulled me to our makeshift floor to do the merengue to the Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra’s fast-tempo song “El Farolito.” Thanks to years of Zumba and its introduction to a variety of dances, I was able to keep up!
Since returning to L.A., I have not been able to stop playing Guerra’s songs — nor eating passion fruit. The season will end soon, then roll around once more, connecting me to my neighbors and those beautiful days and nights in Punta Cana.
Cassandra Lane is Editor-in-Chief of L.A. Parent and author of We Are Bridges: a Memoir.
PUNTA CANA AT A GLANCE
THE EXPERIENCE:
A resort-centered all-inclusive getaway where families can have direct access to white-sand beach, eat, swim, relax and take part in activities without leaving the property.
WHERE WE STAYED:
Family Selection at Grand Palladium Select Bávaro in Bávaro, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
FOR FAMILIES:
Family Selection offers a private lounge, kids’ club, entertainment area, exclusive pool and reserved beach area.
DINING:
Guests can choose among restaurants across the Grand Palladium complex, with Family Selection guests receiving access to 14 restaurants, including nine à la carte options.
ACTIVITIES:
Pools, beach time, water and sports activities, kids’ and teens’ programming, games and live entertainment are among the resort offerings.
Family amenities: Kids’ and teen clubs, nine pools across the resort, water and sports activities, games and live entertainment
FAMILY SELECTION PERKS:
A family host, private check-in, priority restaurant reservations, personalized minibar and curated activities are among the added services.
