Puntacanna Village is a residential and shopping development right around the corner from the Punta Cana International Airport, and it includes the 122 room Four Points by Shearton Puntacana Village which opened in the winter of 2012.

I have always been intrigued by what a Starwood Category 1 – 2,000 Starpoints per night on weekends, and 3,000 points per night on weekdays – would be like.  So I decided 10,000 Starpoints for a 4-night stay would be an excellent redemption. Note that Starwood is moving this to a Category 2 hotel on March 1, 2106.Upon arrival in PUJ, there was a courtesy phone in the rental car area to call for shuttle service to the hotel. The shuttle was amazingly quick, as was check-in at the hotel. I am a Starwood Gold Preferred Guest from my American Express Platinum, and I probably spend 15 nights a year at Starwood properties, however I was pleased to be given a suite upgrade. As the rest of the hotel, my suite was still a fairly basic.  Red was definitely the accent color thru the suite and the entire hotel. The style was minimal, but comfortable. The one thing that I thought was odd that there were only 2 pictures on the walls of the whole suite other than TVs mounted on the walls.I liked the spacious bathroom with double sink, and there was a shower/tub combination. The pool area was small, but surprisingly never crowded. The first half of the pool was shallow for wading, and despite being a pool, it wasn’t really for swimming. Right next to the pool there was a small gym with 24 hour access via keycard. There was also a popular restaurant, and lively bar area that combined the lobby to the gym and the pool.Happy hour featured $2 draft Presidente beer and small selection appetizers for $5.  I had the chicken nachos – which was basically chicken, chips and cheese.Bottom Line:

While the Four Points By Sheraton Puntacana Village wasn’t a luxurious all inclusive tropical resort, I wasn’t expecting one.  The weather was perfect – sunny with highs in the low 80s, and almost no humidity.  There were shuttle options to local beaches as well.  This hotel did an excellent job at providing a solid stay with an inexpensive points redemption.