Cover story April 2

Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda proves you don't have to sacrifice style for sustainability

Ashley Rochefort

Selling travel might be slow now, but it won’t always be. During this downtime, take the opportunity to learn about new destinations and resorts, like Club Med Miches.

A newly built property in an undiscovered region of the Dominican Republic, Club Med Miches offers luxury accommodations, leading-edge sustainability practices, and pristine beaches. When travel restrictions are finally lifted, you’ll be ready to offer your clients the perfect Caribbean getaway.

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On the surface, Club Med’s new Miches Playa Esmeralda property is an impressive, 335-room resort catering to an exclusive clientele against a tranquil jungle and beach backdrop. It’s got everything expected of a five-trident Club Med property – signature activities like trapeze and archery, decadent food options, well-appointed suites, and exciting entertainment. But scratch the surface and you’ll find what Club Med is doing in the Dominican Republic is more than impressive, it’s revolutionary.

SUSTAINABILITY

Eighteen months ago, guided by BREEAM’s sustainable construction principles and Green Globe’s strict standards in hotel operations, Club Med began planning this new, 93-acre, eco-chic resort along the virgin northeast coast of the Dominican Republic. Their commitment to sustainability goes deeper than just replacing plastic straws with paper ones, although they do that too, it means setting a new industry standard in all-inclusive sustainability. Here’s how they’re doing it:

Saving and replanting more than 2000 palm trees when the land was cleared for construction
Filling gardens across the property only with native plants, shrubs, and flowers
Creating a natural filtration system at the Zen pool – as water passes through the roots and soil of specifically selected native plants that work together to clean and refresh the pool water therefore avoiding harsh chemicals
Employing a progressive animal welfare policy which will eliminate all exploitative excursions like swimming with dolphins or activities involving captive animals by the end of 2020
Providing recruitment, training, and job opportunities to more than 900 locals
The “bye-bye plastic” program aims to eliminate all single-use plastics across the resort in three years
Housing an on site bottling plant with equipment to wash, sanitize and refill glass water bottles throughout the resort, effectively eliminating the need to import water or use plastic bottles
Serving only Dominican coffee and chocolate throughout the resort
Working with the Clinton Foundation as they implement a supply chain of local farmers for hotels in the Dominican Republic – this summer the resort will receive its first delivery of local produce, with the goal of having most fruits and veggies ultimately come through this supply chain
Measuring food waste from the buffet with a food waste weighting machine to help staff more accurately adjust the amount of food prepared based on the occupancy
Giving any food that does end up in the bin to local farmers as feed for their livestock

Many of these sustainability programs aren’t necessarily exclusive to Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda, but they all converge at this property. “Miches is leading the way for all of Club Med because it was designed specifically as an eco-chic resort so from the concept to construction to operation to activities and excursions,” explains Robin Bouffart-Gout, Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator, Americas, Club Med. “It’s aim is an emphasis on the culture, local nature, and guests to come here and really discover another level of in term of environment and culture.”

Ultimately, a resort with a conscience means both you and your clients can feel good about vacationing here. “Initially, I thought the eco-chic concept sounded great, but that I would be sacrificing my comfort,” said Carla Van Wees, Travel Advisor and Financial Director at Click The Mouse. “But I’m surprised, Club Med has done a really good job of integrating style and sustainability so you don’t actually miss anything at all. This resort has all the comfort I’m looking for, yet I don’t feel guilty about the luxury.”

Initially, I thought the eco-chic concept sounded great, but that I would be sacrificing my comfort. But I’m surprised, Club Med has done a really good job of integrating style and sustainability so you don’t actually miss anything at all. This resort has all the comfort I’m looking for, yet I don’t feel guilty about the luxury.

Carla Van Wees

Travel Advisor and Financial Director, Click The Mouse

STYLE

At Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda sustainability and style exist in equal measure. Surrounded by lush, tropical jungle and boasting 2000 feet of unspoiled beach along the Dominican Republic’s undiscovered northeast coast, Miches is Club Med’s first new resort in the Americas in 25 years and the brand’s first Exclusive Collection resort in the Americas. “The Exclusive Collection positions Club Med in the premium, upscale market offering travellers a really luxury experience,”explains Amélie Brouhard, Vice-President Canada & Mexico, Club Med. “It’s all in the details, we go one step further in terms of personalization, standards of service, comfort, and accommodation.”

Miches is also Club Med’s first resort to be divided into four distinct village concepts in order to accommodate any and every type of guest. Explorer Cove is an adventurous refuge that offers multi-generational families a treasure trove of activities with access to a private pool and snack bar. The colourful heart of the resort, Caribbean Paradise offers family-friendly lead-in rooms to suit everyone’s vacation needs. Peace and wellness await in the adult-only Emerald Jungle, surrounded by a palm grove and host to the adult-only, naturally filtered Zen pool. Archipelago is an oceanfront, adult-only sanctuary designed with luxury-seeking romantics in mind; each room is complete with private plunge pool and outdoor shower.

What the Agents say

What do you think of Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda?
It’s awesome! It’s a fabulous resort, great for couples, great for families, there’s really something for everyone here.

Favourite part?
The beach. I thought the beach was amazing, it was big, wide, the chairs were comfortable, huts offered shade, plus drink service at the beach made it an awesome experience.

Would you send clients to this property?
I will be recommending it to clients.

What do you think of Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda?
I really like it. I’m glad to see that Club Med has gone up to the five trident level in North America. It puts them back into the competition for my corporate and VIP clients.

Favourite part?
The entertainment. The beach party was amazing; it brought you outside in the evening and interacting with other guests. At other resorts, you might be stuck watching a stage, but with Club Med, it’s a whole experience and you’re a part of it, not just a spectator.

Would you send clients to this property?
Oh, definitely! The expansive beach alone, that’s what people are looking for.

What do you think of Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda?
I love this resort. I love that it’s an exclusive space for all the guests and I really like the Eco-concept.

Favourite part?
The seclusion is quite special. Since I was a teenager, I always had a picture in my head of a remote tropical resort on a beach. When I started to travel, there would always be something – another large complex or loud group of guests – that would break that ideal. I went for a walk down the beach the other day and suddenly there was nothing – I couldn’t see a town, a road, a building, a person, and I realized this is exactly what I’d been looking for all these years.

Would you send clients to this property?
Yes, absolutely. At Club Med, you have a single point of contact for meetings and everything else going on with your group. They don’t have the “that’s not my department” attitude here.

LITTLE LUXURIES

The charismatic Jonathan, originally from Quebec, leads one of Miches’ Must-Try activities, a one-hour sunrise yoga session beginning at 8am every day at the Tree Top Wellness Canopy. Greet the day with deep stretching and mindful breathing in peaceful surroundings.
Every evening before sunset, walk west along the beach until you find the celebratory Sunset Ritual. Scattered among bespoke beach blankets or frolicking in the ocean, guests toast to the day with champagne as the sun goes down. It’s all part of the exclusive experience.
Family vacations are about spending time together. Club Med’s Amazing Family program enables parents and children to create memories together through activities, crafts and events in designated space at the kid’s club
If a seclusion is what you’re looking for, you’ve found it at Miches. Club Med is the first and, so far, only resort in this area of the Dominican Republic. Walk along the beach for miles and miles in either direction completely uninterrupted.