Postcards from the Caribbean

Well, what an absolutely incredible trip. If you follow me over on my other channels, you'll have seen that Lizzy and I embarked on a bit of a Caribbean road trip to the Dominican Republic last week. We partnered up with the gorgeous team at Mr & Mrs Smith to do some sneaky anonymous reviews for their hotels. We we're both in need of a good girls holiday and that is exactly what we got. Lizzy mentioned in her blog post that if you find someone you can travel well with, don't let 'em go, and she's right. There's only a handful of women I could do this with and I feel very lucky to have Lizzy down the road, ready to travel at the drop of a hat. That's a lucky thing in itself; to be able to travel often (and for her to be so close that if I shouted her, I bet she'd hear me).

Our trip started in rather a dramatic way, with some gross miscalculations on our part, for transfer times from the airport, and then subsequent travel time between the hotels during the trip. Put it this way, we spent no less than 16 hours in a car traveling during our week away. Had it not been the two of us, who, are relatively calm and get very silly very quickly, there might have been tears.

Every drop of car travel sweat and grime literally melted away into a distant memory as soon as we arrived at our first hotel, Casa Bonita. Set high up in the forest in Barahona, it was every bit the nature bunny's (and our) dream. We were greeted by some absolutely wonderful staff and surrounded by lush green forest. Our room was essentially a fancy hut in the trees, a little villa if you will. The views were gorgeous and the beds were heaven sent, and I think on that first night we have never ever been so thankful to be horizontal! We really relaxed here, and spent lots of time chatting (getting burnt ears) by the pool and drinking rum that was way too strong for me. Lizzy is harder-core than I am.

Next up was Casas Del XVI. We literally did not stop gasping when we arrived. From start to finish this was every bit the dream hotel. The word we used most was 'characterful' it was just so beautiful and authentic, and if you pulled apart the decor, it didn't work, but altogether, it couldn't have been visualised any better. Again, the beds were a big hit. I kept saying to my parents that I felt like the Princess I was born to be, getting in and out of the bed because it was SO high up, they gave me lots of eye rolling emoji's back in response. This hotel is split into seven houses, so we only shared with one other couple. Located in the city of Santo Domingo meant much more of an authentic Dominican feel which was so welcome after a bit of seclusion in the forest! The staff here were actually second to none other during this trip; they even provide you with a butler who was amazing and even gave us our own iPhone to contact him directly, any time. Crazy. And there we were having a dance party to 90's Hip Hop in our underwear whilst we got ready….

Finally, and Jesus Christ, we stayed at Amanera. I honestly don't know where to begin. I have never, and will probably never experience anything like this ever again. Every single aspect of the design process here was just stunning. Even down to the fan in the villa. Ridiculous. So, these were ocean facing villas, all independent of each other. We were surrounded by lush forest again, but it didn't feel quite as secluded from other things or people. It was in the most idyllic setting I've ever felt. We saw whales in the sea, from the pool. We went horse riding on the beach. It was just perfect.

You know that feeling, when you just want to bottle up how you feel at certain points in your life, that kept happening and I felt like I was really present for every hour of my time there. I couldn't sleep last night and when I thought of being at Amanera, I drifted off so peacefully. The views are stunning, the self contained garden was incredible and private. Each morning we could see the sunrise from our bed. The list is endless. Oh, and one night we lay out under what can only be described as a blanket of stars for about an hour just staring at them and it was so special! and no, we weren't on a honeymoon, although we should have been!

I hope you've enjoyed this little round up of my trip and honestly, if you've never been, then you must go to the Dominican Republic.

Thank you so much for reading xx