Zoetry Agua Punta Cana: Everything is Possible

Truly Getting Away From Stress at Zoetry Agua Punta Cana

Thanks to Zoetry Aqua Punta Cana Spa and Wellness Resort in the Dominican Republic, the first half of our honeymoon was the peaceful unwinding Tom and I needed after our hectic wedding week. Tom, who never sleeps in, slept 12 hours the first night we were there.

Which is exactly what Zoetry does: From the moment we stepped onto the property in its outdoor lobby where we were greeted with smiling employees telling us “Welcome home” and handing us a cold washcloth, we were lulled into a sense of utter relaxation. Sleeping, lounging, swimming, eating, drinking: we could do it all with barely a thought.

Walking amidst Zoetry’s manicured and tropical grounds are butlers ready to meet every need of the guests of the resort’s 51 rooms. Being small and intimate enables Zoetry to not be your typical all-inclusive resort. Instead, it’s soothing with its thatched roofs, treehouse type walkways, and palm trees.

Upon arriving we were upgraded from a pool view suite to an oceanview suite (thanks job) which was also situated above the pool and provided easy access to the main pool area plus Zoetry’s private stretch of sand. However, one nice thing about this resort is that even the rooms farthest away from the main pool and beach are still just a short walk due to the small size of the property.

Three restaurants are onsite, plus a dessert and coffee café and two bars. The food is incredible.

After weeks of eating fast and frozen food because I was too busy wedding planning to bother going to the grocery store for fresh produce (I finally caved a few weeks before the wedding and went to the store to get lettuce and veggies in an effort to be healthy before the wedding; none of it got eaten – one more reason why I was so happy to relax at Zoetry) I was ecstatic that Zoetry served organic and healthy food. Calories were on the menu along with extra notes on the table saying why something was better for you – i.e. cook with olive oil, not butter. Yet, here’s the catch: the food was AMAZING. Seriously, best food I’ve ever had at a resort. Everything we ate was excellent and inventive. Zoetry must have the best chefs in Punta Cana in my opinion.

Zoetry oozes the relaxation factor even more by making the spa amenities accessible all the time during spa operating hours. You don’t have to get any treatments to use the spa facilities, which include an indoor pool, pressure fountains, bubble beds in the pool, sauna, steam room, and some pretty fancy showers that spout out different streams of water depending what button you push. As for the spa treatments, we did partake in a couple – and they were well worth the hefty price tag. In addition to chefs, they have some pretty awesome masseuses at Zoetry.

Just in case you think this place sounds way too good to be true, I will say that Zoetry wasn’t all perfect (though pretty darn close). The last afternoon we were there, a group got in for a wedding and they were loud and in the party mindset. It completely didn’t go with the atmosphere of Zoetry and because the resort is so small, it was hard to get away from. They may have just been excited since it was their first day and maybe the loud partying didn’t continue after we left the next morning, but the wrong mix of people at the resort can make it less peaceful. My guess is that such a thing doesn’t happen very often. It is, after all, a wellness and spa resort, which I think would indicate to most people it shouldn’t be Spring Break 2012.

It wasn’t until we reached our next resort on the Mexican Riviera (a review of which will come later, but let’s just say for now that Tom and I decided small resorts are much more are scene than large ones) that it dawned on me why Zoetry was so peaceful. I’ve been to Sandals in Jamaica, laid on the shores of Ko Phi Phi, and lounged around on a boat on Minnesota’s lakes, but I’ve never felt as blissfully relaxed as I did at Zoetry and that’s because there were no choices.

Every day, I have dozens of different things pulling me in every direction, which leads to some guilt that I’m not using my time wisely. I watch Game of Thrones (darn you HBO On Demand) and then stress that I just wasted two hours that I should have been writing. Tom and I go out to eat and then I wonder if we should have stayed in and saved money. I interview a new marketing candidate at work and wonder if I should hire them despite them not quite being just what I’m looking for. Do I recommend to my boss that we sign that expensive media buy? Should I go see family or go see Asia over Christmas?

The list goes on and on. And traveling is typically filled with its own choices. What restaurant to eat at? Should I go to the beach or go on a hike? If I don’t visit that museum am I going to regret it? What’s the best transportation to take? Should Tom and I go scuba dive the reef or snorkel with whale sharks?

Always, always, always choices. All the time.

But not at Zoetry Agua Punta Cana. Only one restaurant was open for breakfast or lunch. Only two for dinner. There was no advertising for any excursions. It was understood if we wanted to do one, they’d arrange it, but it wasn’t in your face reminding you of what you would miss if you didn’t partake in zip-lining or kayaking or snorkeling.

The toughest decision we had to make was if we wanted a hot stone massage or a Swedish massage, what menu to choose for our candlelight beach dinner, and if we should lay by the beach or the pool. However, even that last one wasn’t that tough because the two were so close that I could easily go swimming in the ocean while lounging by the pool and vice versa.

As Eduardo, the amazing waiter we had for our candlelight beach dinner, put it: “Everything is Possible”.

Everything or nothing. Perfect.