A bust rainy day in January and there it was a special offer on flights to Dominican Republic, before I knew it I had our family booked to travel in June for two weeks. The excitement as we had never been on a long-haul holiday as a family before.

We flew with Air France via Paris to Punta Cana and found them to be excellent, yes it was a long flight but well worth it when we arrived at our 5-star Luxury All Inclusive Resort The Now Larimar. We stayed in a Preferred Club Room with a sea view. I was a bit concerned that with 4 of us in one room it might become a bit of a nightmare but we spent such little time in the room that it really wasn't an issue.

The resort itself was fab, I didn't lift a finger for 14 nights. We were served breakfast, lunch and dinner not to mention the BBQ by the pool and the waiter service for drinks by the pool and at the beach. We had a choice of about 5 different restaurants for our evening dinner and could drink in any of the bars in the hotel. As we had paid extra for preferred club we also had access to the preferred club lounge, hot tub on our balcony and various other little extras that make the holiday even more special. The beach at the hotel is very long, it has a bit of sea weed but the hotel staff work very hard to keep the beach clear of it. If you are a walker you can walk for a good hour along the beach, it also felt very safe as the beach was lined with hotels all the way along.

We did a few day trips from Punta Cana, one was to the Zip Lines and Monkey Sanctuary, the boys then 9 and 16 really enjoyed both activities. We also visited Sonoma Island for a day trip of snorkelling and sunshine.

We had a fab holiday in Punta Cana and I would highly recommend the area and resort to anyone looking for a luxury holiday with plenty of rest and relaxation.