Step Out of Time
Why do we travel?
There are endless answers to this question, but if yours involves wanting to slow down, be more present, and enjoy your time with the people you care about, you need to consider Casa de Campo for your next vacation.
Golf at Casa de Campo
As always, we will start with the golf. Casa de Campo is best known for Teeth of the Dog, a course frequently rated #1 in the Caribbean and Top 100 in the world. At the time of my visit, it was receiving a full restoration, so I was not able to play, but CdC has two other outstanding Pete Dye designs: The Links [review HERE] and Dye Fore [review HERE].
Anyone who wants the full breakdown of the courses can check out the reviews, but I saved one very notable fact for this feature: the pace of play is spectacular. Most highly rated golf destinations are packed to the gills. Casa de Campo’s tee sheet leaves room to breathe. I played alone on The Links in two hours. Our threesome cruised through Dye Fore in under four because the caddies work together to keep play moving, steering groups toward whichever nine is less crowded and helping faster groups play through. For me – a golfer on vacation with his family – knowing that a round of golf won’t consume half my day allows me to make golf a substantial part of my trip.
Four Resorts in One
Typically, this is where I’d start talking about the resort’s amenities, but Casa de Campo won’t let me do that. Why not? Because at 7,000 acres, Casa de Campo has too much going on. The better way to think about Casa de Campo is like four resorts in one. “Four plus” is even more accurate. Let’s dive into each segment of this amazing destination.
The Hotel
The hub of Casa de Campo is the main hotel. This is where you check in and where you’ll find many of the key amenities including Teeth of the Dog, The Links Golf Course, the spa, and the fitness center. Lago restaurant is the resort’s buffet, providing a great spread for breakfast and lunch. La Cana is an upscale Mediterranean restaurant overlooking the two pools. The bar at La Cana is also the hotel’s late night spot, maintaining an energetic-but-mature vibe well past sunset. It’s a great place to wind down with your own crew or meet other travelers.
Altos de Chavon
There were many things I expected to find at Casa de Campo, but a recreated 16th century Mediterranean village was not one of them. Altos de Chavon, situated high above the Chavon River, offers guests a trip back in time plus an assortment of entertainment options. The village is home to an amphitheater that regularly hosts premier musical acts. It also has a museum, an art gallery, and several shops where you can purchase goods made by local artisans.
As with all of the destinations within Casa de Campo, there’s also excellent dining at Altos de Chavon. Chilango Taqueria was one of our top three eateries on the property, offering a variety of delicious tacos. La Piazetta, with its full slate of gourmet Italian food, feels perfectly at home at Altos de Chavon. What elevates all of the dining here are the unbelievable views of the Chavon River.
The Marina
South of Altos de Chavon, at the mouth of the Chavon River, you’ll find the Casa de Campo Marina. This feels like another small town onto itself, complete with a movie theater, shopping, and more restaurants. The marina is home to La Casita, a traditional Spanish restaurant, and SBG, a more experimental, fusion eatery. This is also the place to go if you’re looking to customize your next yacht.
On the other end of the boating spectrum is the most fun activity we found at Casa de Campo: the Fun Cat Caribe excursion. These two-person watercrafts are an absolute blast to drive. The guided tour up and down the Chavon River is just the right amount of sketchy, as each pair is sent off in their own boat after instructions that last no more than a minute. Highly, highly recommended.
Minitas Beach Club
No matter what your ideal beach day looks like, you can find it at the Minitas Beach Club. Do you want to sit under an umbrella and read? There are ample chairs. Trying to get the most out of your all-inclusive package? There are bars in every direction. Want to play in the ocean? The beach is protected by a reef so the waves are safe for swimmers of all sizes and ability levels. Don’t like salt water or sand? There are pools a stones throw from the beach. Hungry? There are two food trucks and an upscale restaurant at your disposal. Eager for more adrenaline-pumping water sports? There are all types of crafts available for you.
If the beach club was the only amenity that Casa de Campo had, no one in their right mind would complain. As it is, you’ll need to decide how to split your time between the beach and the other great destinations.
Dude Ranch & Shooting Center
If you want to get a little more wild and active on your vacation, Casa de Campo has you covered with an extensive dude ranch and a world class shooting center. An all-inclusive package covers unlimited horseback riding, which my daughters loved. The hour long tour shows off the resort’s polo fields and more. Experienced equestrians can also participate in riding lessons and jumping. There’s also donkey polo – a safer, slower intro to the prestigious sport.
Casa de Campo’s Shooting Center covers 245 acres and includes over 200 stations for shooting sports of various kinds. It’s also home to one of the largest sport clay towers in the world – 110 feet! My wife and daughters had never shot trap before, but our guide made the experience a lot of fun. His ability to guide them to successful shots was uncanny, and everyone was able to hit some targets on their own after his instruction.
The Staff
The one constant across all the different sections of Casa de Campo is the outstanding staff. They’re warm, eager to help, and ever-present. It felt like all I had to do was think of a question or request and someone would be walking up to help me.
You might be wondering why I included a picture of my daughters’ stuffed animals. To me, it’s the best embodiment of Casa de Campo’s commitment to going above and beyond. After cleaning our room, the house keeping staff took the time to seat these well-loved companions in this chair by the window. It’s a tiny thing, but it put a huge smile on everyone’s face when we came back to the room.
I could recount numerous other examples of this type of superb customer service. A member of the staff texted me regularly to confirm my reservations and to see if things were going well. Our caddie at Dye Fore never wanted to give up a ball, no matter how poorly hit it was. It’s VIP treatment, but with a warm, human feel, and it creates a great environment throughout the resort.
Golf Cart Life
You might be wondering how vacationers get around such a massive property. The answer is that every room comes with a golf cart. On top of being great fun, the golf cart came to represent the pace of life at Casa de Campo. Could you get from the hotel to the marina faster in a car? Absolutely, but why would you want to? The golf cart forces you to slow down, notice more things, spend a few more minutes chatting with your traveling party.
Slower, Better Living
When I asked my family what the best thing about our trip to Casa de Campo was, I was expecting to hear about one of the great activities or amenities. Instead, they all said, “The meals.” They weren’t talking about the food – though it was very good – but the pace. Every dinner lasted two hours. Even our trips to the breakfast buffet were often sixty minutes. Despite there being so much to do at Casa de Campo, something in the air makes life feel unhurried and joyful. While there are dozens of reasons that I would recommend a trip to CdC, that is easily the best of them.
Visit Casa de Campo HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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