Michès Playa Esmeralda Dominican Republic

We had a great time! The highlight of our trip was Leonardo who organized the family time (kids and parents) activities. Our girls were always so excited to see him and join in on whatever activities he had planned for the day. He is energetic, kind and a lot of fun! Our little guy also instantly smiled anytime he saw Leonardo. The food was also excellent!

As usual, i will provide my personal opinion and honest review.

I will rate each item from 1 to 5. We traveled to Club Med Miches in March 2026 with our 2 teens (13 and 15).

Location (3/5): The resorts is 90-120 minutes from Punta Cana Airport, which a bit far for my taste considering all the resorts available within a few minutes from Punta Cana airport. The road is a bit rough and winding, let's just we were happy to arrive.

Arrival and welcome (5/5): Monika and Antoine welcomed us to coco water drinks and refreshing face towels. We were sat near the reception while Monika checked us in. Very easy and nice.

Room (4/5): we were brought to our room on a golf cart. Our luggage were delivered directly to our room which is a nice touch. We got a deluxe family room (Explorer Cove) which comes with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms: 1 small lobby with a toilet room, 1 master suite with king bed and full bathroom, 1 kids room with 2 single beds and a sofa bed, and 1 bathroom (no toilet) There is plenty of storage closets in both rooms. The master bedroom is large and has plenty of space. The kids bedroom is more limited but still fairly decent size.

The room lost some point because there were 4 issues we discovered the first day of our arrival: blackout curtains would close completely leaving a big sunny gap in the morning. The cold faucet of one our our sink didn't work. There is a light on the outside balcony that is defective and consistently flashing. The common lobby toilet doesn't flush properly. It's been 3 days and they haven't come to fix the issues yet. I notified them the first morning after we had arrived.

Beach (3/5): Beach is fairly narrow and get small at high tide. There is section that is a decent size beach with easy access to the water, but for 75%, it's been eroded, creating a step down of 1 to 2 feet to access the sandy beach. It is a very nice tropical beach nonetheless.

Chairs (2/5): Now pardon my french, but the big problem is the freaking BATTLE OF THE CHAIRS and SHADED AREAS on the beach. I would come on the beach at 7am, and already all the nice spots were reserved (umbrellas, shaded areas). By 10am, the were no more chairs or hard to find. Guests are not supposed to reserve their spot, and leave to comer later but everybody does it. One morning (mid week), I came to the beach at 7:30am, found chairs, a shaded area, put my stuff on the chairs, sat down for 30 min, went to get coffee. When I got back, my stuff was gone. I had to search for a spot again. I wasn't pleased at all. 800 guests on the resort, they should have enough chairs and umbrellas on the beach based on past experience. A lot of people would reserve a spot and chairs, go to the pool for most of the day, to come back only later during the day. I wasn't here to stress about finding a chair every single day.

Resort (4/5): We got to really enjoy going around and discovering. The site is rather large but not overwhelming. We were a bit remote from the action which is good; if you get a room next to the main party area, that might become an issue at night. There are always something to do all day and night long. The app provides a very good schedule about everything happening all the time: tennis, trapeze, pickleball, mini golf, soccer, volleyball, too many fitness/yoga/jogging sessions to go through, a lot a water activities, water park, play structures. It feels like there is always a DJ party somewhere: at the pool, on the beach, at the main building/sitting area.

The resorts can accommodate 800 guests and it was full when we were there. Although it didn't seem like it going around, using most facilities, except for the availability of the chairs on the beach.

Main building (5/5): Speaking of main building, almost everything happens there. The reception, main bar, buffet restaurant, the party area, the theater, a cigar lounge, a wine cellar, a coffee shop, a souvenir shop, the main pool area. It's nice, and easy to get around. Julie (Head of Village) was very helpful to tell us what to look for and discover most of the features of the resort. A big thanks to her!

Restaurants (4/5):

Main restaurant Cayuco (4/5): This is a buffet style restaurant. One of the bests we have been to. First night was only OK, maybe we got there too late, but the next few nights, it's been very good. A good mix of everything: salad bar, seafood, meat (lamb, beef), Italian, Japanese, bread/cheese/charcuterie counter and desserts. Plenty of diverse food for everyone. There is always 3 or 4 signature dishes every night. Highly recommended.
One of my two negative points were: the lack of plates around all the counters, almost look like they can't wash the dishes fast enough. And the service, although good, lack the attention to details (ex. when they'd refill our water or wine, they wouldn't do all glasses around the table...weird).

But you don't have a lot of choices anyway.

There are only 3 restaurants on site: 1 buffet, 1 sit down, 1 steakhouse that is not included.

Coco plum (5/5): We managed to get a reservation the last night of our stay. And it was worth it. The 3-service menu had plenty of choices, and everything we tried was delicious. This restaurant is inckluded, but hard to book: booking opens 48 hours in advance, at 7PM, through the app that doesn't seem very efficient, I was successful via the App only once despite many tries (I would try to book a time for 15-20 minutes to be told, it was fully booked!). We ended talking to Abhi, who booked us in. This was much easier that the app. We tried lunch once during a special BBQ Burgers, it was worth it.

Coal and copper (?/5): this is the 3rd restaurant which is not included in the "all inclusive"...NOT INCLUDED in an ALL INCLUSIVE resort! I must have missed the fine prints. We decided to not spend what seems to be a lot of money for a steakhouse in DR (pricing was comparable to high end steakhouses in Canada or US). I don't know where they get their beef from, but I can't believe it'd be better than Canadian beef.

Miscellaneous food station and BBQ (4/5): there always seem to have a snack station somewhere, at some point, which includes some finger food, guacamole and nachos, veggies.

There were also some afternoon BBQ a couple of times during the week, which in general were good to very good.

Pool(s) (5/5): there are three pool areas. I will only comment on one, the main one. It's a large space with plenty of seating, with shallow to not-too-deep ends, as well as a zone with swimming lanes. The other 2 pools are reserved for La Perla residents (private house-like accommodations) and Zen pool reserved for adults only. We haven't tried neither La Perla our Zen, but going around, both pools look a bit secluded, less busy and more quiet.

Spa (5/5); We didn't use the Spa centre, but we visited it, and it looked very nice and quiet. For Extra $, you can use 3 small pools and a Zen-like area. you can also purchased a whole list of spa treatments.

Activities and clubs (5/5): This is where they shine. The activities and kids clubs: toddlers, children and teens. You can drop off your kids in the morning and they will come back at night fully exhausted!
They have so many activities all day and all night long, for everyone. I was exhausted after a day of gym, tennis, beach volleyball!

The GOs (Gentle Organizers) (5/5): They make the experience invaluable and memorable. Thanks to the whole team of GOs, to name a few: Alain, Annabelle, Lorenzo, Marie, Juan Carlos, Jonathan...Head of village: Julie...Trapeze team: Joel, Mailys, Candela, Nacho, Claudia...Welcoming committee: Monika and Antoine.

Summary (4/5): This was a very nice resort and experience. It's not perfect, noting that a few problems in our room weren't fixed, the lack of chairs is an annoyance and the overall service could improve, but overall, I recommend it and would return!

I have just returned from a holiday here at the Club Med in Miches Playa Esmeralda and I have to say it was nothing short of exceptional. The location and beach were amazing; as one would expect from visiting a Caribbean island. All the stress of London life just melted away in an instant.

As a solo traveller this time, I was made very welcome by all the staff and this made the holiday unforgettable.

A very special mention must go to Marie, the club's resident fitness instructor whose energy, professionalism and genuine enthusiasm for her job made the fitness classes set the tone for the day. I am normally just a gym goer but decided to try out the classes as recommended to me by the team in the reception. Marie's sessions were incredibly well delivered and motivating to all levels. Definitely worth a go if you ever stay at the hotel.

Equally deserving a mention is Julie, whom I later found out was only the interim Chef De Village whilst I was staying there. She was very approachable and always welcoming to anyone who was in the area. She made me feel very cared for and of value to the team at Miches. It was very clear she took great pride in delivering a high quality experience for the clientele.

The entire team at the Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda deserve praise but it was both Marie and Julie who elevated my experience into something memorable.

I have already booked to go back out again this season but this time taking my son with me as I am sure he will love the place and all the activities that are on offer

Traveled with my family to Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda in the Dominican Republic. We had a blast. One of the highlights was definitely the circus team. They were amazing, very talented and super friendly. They made this trip unforgettable for my family. The head of the circus team (i think her name was Claudia) was amazing and really made this trip special for my kids. Her team was also the highlight of the few shows that we watched. The food was good as well with a pretty good variety.

Just returned from a really nice and relaxing Club Med vacation. Great location, gorgeous beach and the best food for any all inclusive resort…( and we have been to many!) The staff was helpful, knowledgeable and very friendly and did everything to help you have a great time. Special shoutout to the wait staff at the buffet…so pleasant and helpful. The live music was also a big plus.
The only blip was that the room service was very erratic. Our room was not cleaned on 2 days and we would receive towels at 9:00pm. Our room was not ready when we got to the resort and we had to wait over 2 hours to finally get in….well after 5:00pm. Long day when you have been traveling.
The resort does cater to families but there is plenty for older couples to do. Great tennis, fun excursions and separate dining areas. Would definitely return.