Along the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic, on the southern edge of Samaná Bay and an 80-minute drive from Punta Cana Airport, the Michès region is a hidden tropical paradise, characterized by pristine, powdery beaches where coconut palms spring up from the shoreline and lush, varied jungle spills out onto the sands.
Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda, a 93-acre, eco-chic beachfront resort, is not only the first major hospitality property to open in the area, but also Club Med's very first 'Exclusive Collection' resort in the Americas.
The property is a departure from the rest of the Exclusive Collection portfolio in its design, which fuses four boutique-style "villages", each with its own distinctive accommodations and ambiance, into a single resort.
While a soft opening in November 2019 saw portions made the property available to guests, the recent Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda Grand Opening special event marked that the resort is now fully operational.
Taking place between January 28 and 31, 2020, the event welcomed Club Med executives, VIP partners and various members of the media from all over the world to share in the celebration of its illustrious debut.
An inaugural ceremony, traditional ribbon-cutting and guided resort tour, attended by all, comprised the official part of the celebration, but attendees enjoyed the rest of the week's happenings at a completely relaxed pace in an idyllic environment that's fully infused with the signature Club Med spirit.
Carolyne Doyon, President and CEO of Club Med North America, shared with attendees that the brand had spent about a decade in search of the perfect location for Club Med to continue growing its legacy in the Caribbean, before happening upon Michès.
Prior to a few years ago, road access into this area was quite limited and it took around six hours to reach from as close as Punta Cana. But, when Dominican authorities revealed plans to install a new highway directly connecting the two places, Club Med jumped at the opportunity.
The company's relationship with the Dominican Republic stretches back to 1978, when founder Gérard Blitz chose the untamed area that is now Punta Cana for Club Med's first resort in the Caribbean.
Punta Cana International Airport actually owes its existence to Club Med, which privately built and proceeded to operate it back in 1984 in order to facilitate travel to its Punta Cana resort, which was also the first its region.
Through its trailblazing work in the area, Club Med has effectively opened the previously untouched destination up to further development by big-name hospitality brands.
In early February, AMResorts broke ground on a pair of upcoming all-inclusive properties, one dedicated to families and the other to serve adults only. Each will offer 750 guest rooms, 250 of which will be in a section reserved exclusively for Preferred Club members.
The new resorts are to be designated 'Secrets Playa Esmeralda Punta Cana' and 'Dreams Playa Esmeralda Punta Cana', said Travel Weekly.
While the town of Michès actually sits outside of the area that's traditionally been considered "greater Punta Cana" (it's 63 miles away), the recognition levels that Punta Cana has achieved as a destination in recent years may explain why the brand chose to include the moniker in the resorts' titles.
Representing a $400 million investment, the Playa Esmeralda complex, scheduled for completion in 2022, will also encompass a convention center, live performance space, and retail and dining outlets.
It seems that Four Seasons also plans on opening its own resort complex in Michès in 2021: a project called, called the Tropicalia with 169 premium hotel rooms at its center.
Javier Coll, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Apple Leisure Group, which owns AMResorts, summed it up at AMResorts' recent groundbreaking: "Michès is poised to become one of the Dominican Republic's top markets for all-inclusive resorts."
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