First look: Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort, Hilton Curio Assortment

The brand new Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort is among the many Dominican Republic’s newest all-inclusive resort openings, and it is Hilton’s first Curio Assortment resort on the island. The Playa Esmeralda space surrounding the northeastern Dominican city of Miches is shortly turning into a sizzling spot of latest resort openings — together with Hyatt’s Secrets and techniques Playa Esmeralda and Desires Playa Esmeralda — as vacationers proceed to hunt out the extra secluded seashores northwest of Punta Cana.

Zemi Miches was on TPG’s listing of essentially the most anticipated lodges for 2025, so we have been excited to check out this new all-inclusive providing. And whereas the resort did hit a number of hiccups that required suspending its deliberate opening a number of instances, my expertise on the resort was overwhelmingly constructive. I cherished nearly every thing about my keep — from the property itself to the facilities and repair to the scrumptious eating places.

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First impressions

The resort actually appears like a secluded island paradise from the second you arrive.

Once you stroll by the foyer’s sliding glass doorways, you are instantly greeted with a shocking multilevel artwork set up that represents the wind and canoes utilized by the Indigenous Taino individuals who first inhabited the island.

The resort mixes fashionable facilities and minimalist design selections with impartial tones, pure textures and considerate nods to Dominican and Taino tradition. All through the interiors and exteriors, you may discover lush landscaping and loads of locations to chill out with snug seating. The foyer tables and couches even have locations to cost your units, which was a considerate contact.

The music taking part in within the foyer was enjoyable, the welcome drink was sturdy (and scrumptious), and check-in was a fast and simple course of. By the point we checked in and bought to our room, I used to be already totally impressed and very excited to expertise every thing else the resort needed to supply.

The rooms

We stayed in a Membership Azure Plunge Pool Seaside View Room throughout our keep. The room was an ordinary dimension with stone flooring, two snug queen beds, a double vainness and a very huge waterfall bathe. There was additionally a full closet (with drawers!), a flat-screen TV, a desk and a desk. There have been quite a few shops all through the room, outfitted with customary North American sockets and USB plugs, although not all of them had been working throughout our keep.

Whereas it was a cushty and trendy residence base — and near the primary pool, restaurant space and foyer — the bed room itself did not sweep us off our ft. Nonetheless, the true showstopper was the private plunge pool out there through our personal again patio.

The seashore view? Beautiful. The water? Refreshing. The power to hang around poolside anytime day or evening? Unbelievable. This out of doors characteristic is what made the room particular.

It is value noting that the plunge swimming pools are semiprivate, however positively not absolutely secluded from exterior eyes. The swimming pools could be seen from the balconies of the higher flooring and the seashore, and your neighbors can simply pop their heads over the partition between swimming pools.

Meals and drinks at Zemi Miches

Often, standout eating just isn’t the very first thing that involves thoughts at an all-inclusive resort. However Zemi Miches provides a formidable lineup of eating places and bars.

For many company, breakfast is served at Guacete, the resort’s elevated tackle a typical all-inclusive resort buffet with a mixture of self-serve and made-to-order stations.

For a sit-down lunch, your finest choices are Yuca (open for lunch and typically dinner), the open-air beachside grill, and Guacete. However for extra informal grab-and-go bites, you possibly can take a look at Batey — the cafe that serves specialty espresso (together with my go-to order: an iced caramel latte with almond milk), contemporary salads, fruit, a choice of pastries and ice cream.

The place the resort actually shines is the three a la carte dinner choices:

• Toa: Dominican delicacies impressed by household recipes
• Boba: Elevated Thai road meals
• Manicato: Pizzas, pastas and different Italian dishes

Particularly for a more moderen all-inclusive resort, I used to be impressed with the standard of the meals at each single restaurant that we visited throughout our keep.

You will have to make dinner reservations, which could be performed by the entrance desk or through the app. Some reservations had been made on our behalf by the resort previous to arrival, however I used to be capable of simply make lunch reservations for Yuca through the app with out subject.

After all, there are additionally loads of locations to seize a drink, from the swim-up pool bar to the foyer bar to the sports activities bar (which even has its personal cigar room).

Facilities and repair

The resort remains to be in its infancy (it formally opened in June), and as with all new all-inclusive resort, there are nonetheless some anticipated kinks to work out. Nonetheless, the service was top-notch, and the employees was extremely pleasant and welcoming. English is broadly spoken all through the resort, although I did attempt to use my (admittedly very rudimentary) Spanish after I may.

After all, I acknowledge that is all considerably anticipated from somebody who was a hosted visitor of the resort, however I witnessed the identical stage of service and care given to different company all through our keep.

Zemi Miches has all the usual all-inclusive facilities, in addition to a number of distinctive choices:

• Taino-inspired Acana Spa: The Acana Spa encompasses a full menu of each customary companies and Dominican-inspired choices that incorporate Taino rituals and therapeutic practices. My therapeutic massage was nice and one thing I might positively rebook alone dime the subsequent time I am on the resort.

• Membership Azure: Out of the five hundred rooms out there at Zemi Miches, a mixture of 135 rooms, suites and (quickly to open) bungalows are designated as a part of Membership Azure, which comes with a separate check-in desk, extra in-room facilities (together with complimentary bottles of Dominican rum and Jack Daniel’s whiskey), personal Membership Azure visitor areas and a concierge.

• Multilevel fitness center: The resort has a improbable multilevel fitness center with customary free weights, machines, treadmills and ellipticals, however the upstairs actually steals the present with a yoga studio, row machines, TRX suspension gear and my private favourite: a reformer Pilates studio. The resort additionally hosts a rotation of free health courses for company, and there’ll ultimately be pickleball courts open to be used.

• Household-friendly facilities: This can be a family-friendly resort, with two-bedroom suite choices, the power to ebook adjoining rooms, and loads of kid-friendly actions and programming (every thing from online game tournaments to seashore treasure hunts to Dominican tradition classes). There is a separate kids’s pool proper subsequent to the primary pool space, and youngsters waterslides over on the fringe of the resort property close to the Coki Cove children membership (ages 3-12) and soon-to-open Palmchat Teenagers Membership (ages 13-17).
• Distinctive actions calendar: A really sudden spotlight was the resort’s actions calendar. I attended a pottery workshop, a portray class, two totally different gem workshops (together with a larimar workshop, which meant I bought to take residence my very personal uncommon gemstone solely discovered within the Dominican Republic), and a “Taino Glow Present.” And that was solely a small choice of the complete rotation of actions hosted all through the week.

• (Opening quickly) Membership Azure Bungalows: Bungalows will likely be out there for reserving beginning Dec. 1, with costs beginning at $8,000 for a two-bedroom suite. Bungalow company will obtain all Membership Azure advantages, plus entry to a non-public restaurant known as Jagua. Whereas reserving one of many bungalows will likely be expensive, I feel it could be value it for a special day or celebration.

Zemi Miches swimming pools and seashore entry

The resort options a number of pool areas and direct seashore entry, providing a variety of water sports activities and excursions for company.

I appreciated that the seating on the essential pool space was fully on a first-come, first-served foundation; you did not have to pay additional to order one of many small daybeds (which isn’t the case at a number of all-inclusive resorts).

Free water exercise choices on the seashore included kayaking, paddleboarding and water biking. You may also pay additional for actions like a snorkeling tour or crusing.

The resort opted to lean into the pure shoreline and stored a number of the pure sand, timber and different foliage. Whereas it made for lots of pure shade for these trying to lounge close to the water (and is considerably higher for the atmosphere, which I personally revered and appreciated), it additionally meant the seashore wasn’t an excellent place to swim within the ocean.

Should you’re on the lookout for a extra conventional beachside trip with lengthy stretches of white sand and waves to splash in, you may possible be dissatisfied.

Location and logistics

What some might even see as a draw back to the resort, many could also be delighted by: Zemi Miches is an hour and a half away from the closest main airport, Punta Cana Worldwide Airport (PUJ). The drive is gorgeous, although, and takes you thru the mountains to a extra secluded a part of the area. I spent your entire drive with my nostril pressed in opposition to the glass, watching the mountains and declaring each cow and horse I noticed to my buddy, not in contrast to an excited toddler.

Whereas airport transportation is not mechanically included for all company, Hilton does supply packages the place transportation is included and organized by the resort.

What it prices

Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort is a member of Hilton’s Curio Assortment, so company can earn and redeem factors on their keep and revel in elite standing advantages when out there (such because the fifth award evening free and room upgrades).

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Customary room charges for 2 adults begin within the low-$500s per evening in the course of the offseason, however simply attain over $1,000 per evening in the course of the peak season — particularly for Membership Azure rooms.

Hilton makes use of dynamic pricing to find out what number of factors a room prices, so charges can differ broadly from evening to nighttime. In the course of the offseason, I used to be capable of finding customary room charges as little as 130,000 Hilton Honors factors per evening for 2 adults. I discovered Membership Azure rooms for as little as 265,000 factors per evening. That is about 0.4 cents per level in worth, which is simply barely decrease than TPG’s November 2025 valuation of Hilton factors at 0.5 cents per level.

Accessibility

The resort seamlessly integrates customary accessibility options all through the property.

• The primary strolling paths are all large, and there are elevators or ramps wherever there are stairs.
• You may choose rooms with a roll-in bathe throughout reserving.
• The primary pool has a zero-entry space.
• The eating places do affirm whether or not you could have any allergic reactions or dietary restrictions.
• Service animals are allowed on-site (you simply should contact the resort forward of time to rearrange).

Nonetheless, it is vital to notice that the Membership Azure infinity pool just isn’t zero-entry and doesn’t have a raise that I may see. And in case you ebook a room with a plunge pool, these even have stairway entry factors with out lifts.

As at all times, it is best to name the resort earlier than reserving to substantiate if it may possibly accommodate any particular wants you will have in your keep.

Backside line

It is easy for an all-inclusive resort — particularly one which falls below a significant factors model like Hilton — to really feel cookie-cutter with the meals, service and facilities supplied. However my expertise at Zemi Miches felt distinctive, from the design selections to the meals and programming.

All through my keep, it was clear that the resort prioritized incorporating Dominican and Taino tradition into each facet of the visitor expertise, and I appreciated a few of the selections made to guard and respect the pure atmosphere.

The resort is not excellent: It requires an extra hour-and-a-half drive from the Punta Cana airport (which can attraction to these vacationers searching for a extra off-the-beaten path getaway), some facilities and room varieties (just like the bungalows) have but to open, and there are positively a number of kinks the employees remains to be figuring out, which is totally regular for any brand-new resort. However by the height season in 2026, I am assured that Zemi Miches will likely be among the best luxurious factors resorts within the higher Punta Cana space.

I can let you know one factor: I will positively be again.