Until recently, the Dominican Republic's east coast, where the sea is a rich Photoshop blue and studded with ruddy Americans paddling in tiny stars-and- stripes briefs, was the budget destination for an all-in Caribbean break. Sweaty all-day buffets. Sweaty couples reigniting the spark in their 30-year marriages. Sprawling hotels with games rooms and 80s nights, and small but explosive illnesses from sweaty seafood cocktails and too much family-time. On YouTube, videos document the chest burns and shortlived nicknames of spring breaks passed there with incident and much beer.
But things have changed. The boutique hotel has arrived in the DR, and a growing number of luxury retreats are drawing Hollywood stars who might previously have favoured St Lucia, St Barts or Mustique. For years the Dominican Republic was served only by charter flights from the UK, but British Airways recently decided that the DR had moved sufficiently upmarket to merit a scheduled service, and launched twice-weekly flights to Punta Cana, its holiday heart. Like a groupie I agreed to follow in the documented footsteps of celebrity holidaymakers Brad, Angelina, Beyoncé and Jay-Z to visit four of the new five-star resorts, travelling north up the coast by bus with my boyfriend.
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