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 lodge 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 scorching spot of recent resort openings — together with Hyatt’s Secrets and techniques Playa Esmeralda and Goals Playa Esmeralda — as vacationers proceed to hunt out the extra secluded seashores northwest of Punta Cana.

Zemi Miches was on TPG’s record of essentially the most anticipated inns for 2025, so we have been excited to check out this new all-inclusive providing. And whereas the resort did hit a couple of hiccups that required suspending its deliberate opening a number of occasions, my expertise on the resort was overwhelmingly optimistic. I beloved nearly all the pieces 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 really looks like a secluded island paradise from the second you arrive.

Once you stroll via 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 trendy facilities and minimalist design decisions 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 calm down 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 robust (and scrumptious), and check-in was a fast and simple course of. By the point we checked in and acquired to our room, I used to be already totally impressed and intensely excited to expertise all the pieces else the resort needed to provide.

The rooms

We stayed in a Membership Azure Plunge Pool Seashore View Room throughout our keep. The room was an ordinary measurement with stone flooring, two snug queen beds, a double self-importance and a really 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, geared up with customary North American sockets and USB plugs, although not all of them had been working throughout our keep.

Whereas it was a snug and classy residence base — and near the principle pool, restaurant space and foyer — the bed room itself did not sweep us off our toes. Nevertheless, the actual showstopper was the non-public plunge pool accessible through our personal again patio.

The seaside view? Pretty. The water? Refreshing. The flexibility to hang around poolside anytime day or evening? Unimaginable. This out of doors function is what made the room particular.

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

Meals and drinks at Zemi Miches

Often, standout eating 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 visitors, 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 generally 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), recent 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 accomplished via 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 challenge.

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 continues to be in its infancy (it formally opened in June), and as with every new all-inclusive resort, there are nonetheless some anticipated kinks to work out. Nevertheless, 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 might.

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 visitors all through our keep.

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

• Taino-inspired Acana Spa: The Acana Spa includes 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 accessible 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, further 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 incredible 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 visitors, and there’ll ultimately be pickleball courts open to be used.

• Household-friendly facilities: It is a family-friendly resort, with two-bedroom suite choices, the flexibility to ebook adjoining rooms, and loads of kid-friendly actions and programming (all the pieces from online game tournaments to seaside treasure hunts to Dominican tradition classes). There is a separate youngsters’s pool proper subsequent to the principle 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 completely different gem workshops (together with a larimar workshop, which meant I acquired 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 total rotation of actions hosted all through the week.

• (Opening quickly) Membership Azure Bungalows: Bungalows can be accessible for reserving beginning Dec. 1, with costs beginning at $8,000 for a two-bedroom suite. Bungalow visitors will obtain all Membership Azure advantages, plus entry to a personal restaurant referred to as Jagua. Whereas reserving one of many bungalows can be expensive, I believe it will be price it for an important day or celebration.

Zemi Miches swimming pools and seaside entry

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

I appreciated that the seating on the principal pool space was completely 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 quite a lot of all-inclusive resorts).

Free water exercise choices on the seaside included kayaking, paddleboarding and water biking. It’s also possible to pay additional for actions like a snorkeling tour or crusing.

The resort opted to lean into the pure shoreline and stored quite a lot of the pure sand, bushes 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 setting, which I personally revered and appreciated), it additionally meant the seaside wasn’t a terrific place to swim within the ocean.

In the event you’re on the lookout for a extra conventional beachside trip with lengthy stretches of white sand and waves to splash in, you may probably be disillusioned.

Location and logistics

What some may 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 the complete drive with my nostril pressed in opposition to the glass, watching the mountains and declaring each cow and horse I noticed to my pal, not in contrast to an excited toddler.

Whereas airport transportation is not robotically included for all visitors, Hilton does provide packages the place transportation is included and organized via the resort.

What it prices

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

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Commonplace room charges for 2 adults begin within the low-$500s per evening through the offseason, however simply attain over $1,000 per evening through 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 range 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 principle strolling paths are all extensive, and there are elevators or ramps wherever there are stairs.
• You’ll be able to choose rooms with a roll-in bathe throughout reserving.
• The principle pool has a zero-entry space.
• The eating places do affirm whether or not you’ve any allergic reactions or dietary restrictions.
• Service animals are allowed on-site (you simply should contact the resort forward of time to rearrange).

Nevertheless, it is necessary to notice that the Membership Azure infinity pool isn’t zero-entry and doesn’t have a carry that I might see. And when you ebook a room with a plunge pool, these even have stairway entry factors with out lifts.

As all the time, it is best to name the resort earlier than reserving to verify if it could accommodate any particular wants you’ll 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 decisions to the meals and programming.

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

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 in quest of 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 couple of kinks the employees continues to be figuring out, which is totally regular for any brand-new lodge. However by the height season in 2026, I am assured that Zemi Miches can be among the best luxurious factors resorts within the larger Punta Cana space.

I can inform you one factor: I am going to positively be again.