Tossing a pile of mail onto my desk, a brightly colored envelope caught my attention. From the return address, I already guessed it was an invitation to the biggest annual conference for professionals within my industry. With one fluid motion, I swiped the letter opener across the top and quickly pulled out the enclosed documents. Each year proved to reveal a new and interesting destination. I dramatically announced to an empty office: “The location for this year’s industry conference, drum roll please, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic!” After the applause of the imaginary audience subsided, so did my initial excitement. Bliss, triggered by thoughts of blue water and sunny beaches, was quickly overshadowed by thunderclouds of disappointment, soon followed by a downpour of reality. “Sitting on uncomfortable chairs for hours on end staring at pie charts and bar graphs is bad enough,” I bemoaned. “The idea of turquoise waters lapping up against the sugar sand just outside the door ranks right up there with Chinese water torture.”

Don’t get me wrong; conferences serve as an amazing forum for professionals to network, compare notes and stay on top of industry-wide trends affecting the marketplace. Plus, many extend their stay to add a little R&R to their P&L, so the only thing that ends up in the red are shoulders usually covered by golf shirts when under the sun. Where this event was held, the Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center, there’s also an 18-hole golf course. So if one chooses to maintain the golfer glow, it’s possible. While not the best greens in the Caribbean, these fairways give business travelers a chance to conduct business as usual.

Upon my arrival into the airport in Punta Cana, I was surprised to learn that it’s a privately-owned airport by a Barcelo Resorts owner. (Apparently the three-hour commute to Santa Domingo proved frustrating.) A mere 20-minute drive and I found myself entering what I like to refer to as “Barceloville.” Barcelo was the first hotel chain to establish itself on Dominican Republic’s finest stretch of sand, Bavaro Beach. The coral reef, only 800 meters from the shore, reduces waves and protects this 12-kilometer landing strip for bikini-clad bums. Plus, the oxygenation from the reef creates transparent waters that travelers can enjoy year round with temperatures ranging between 71 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Other hotels feature the name Bavaro in their title but are actually located on other beaches in the Punta Cana area.

This mini village contains five of the 14 Barcelo resorts found in the Dominican Republic. Barcelo Bavaro Palace, touted as the queen bee of Bavaro Beach, rules over 594 of the 2,000-room total. One would think the Palace’s five restaurants and five bars would provide sufficient nourishment for even king-sized appetites. However, Barcelo’s comprehensive all-inclusive plan offers guests the opportunity to eat either buffet-style or a la carte at the 14 restaurants and 16 different bars, with all drinks included. If you like things shaken, not stirred, the nightly shows feature scantily clad performers doing the merengue and shaking their bonbons faster than the maracas that accompany them.

I think the extensive choice of amenities proves most beneficial to those attending a business function who don’t particularly enjoy spending time with their co-workers. While the option is always there to dine together, there are plenty of ways to dodge your boss or that pesky intern. Not many all-inclusive resorts can provide this kind of customer service. Speaking of which, the predominantly Spanish-speaking resort staff proves diligent and friendly, yet are relative newcomers in extending service to English-speaking clientele. Personally, I would choose this so-called limitation over some of the “communication problems” (a.k.a. despondence) I’ve experienced in more tourist-laden destinations.

Barcelo, on the other hand, is no rookie to tourism. In 1931, Simon Barcelo founded the Autocares Barcelo transport company in Majorca, Spain. By 1962, this entrepreneur would open his first hotel of the chain here. The inauguration of the first Caribbean hotel (Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort) would grace Punta Cana’s sands by 1985, making Barcelo the first Spanish hotel company in the zone. Barcelo Bavaro Palace crowned the premises in 1993 to reign over all of Barceloville. This hotel group knew that it had the accommodations necessary to support the addition of one of the Caribbean’s largest convention centers in 2001. The 12th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and of Government has already been held with this modern facility, comprised of 13 event rooms. With a capacity of up to 5,000 people, this building is designed with large groups in mind, but can be divided into smaller spaces to comfortably accommodate small gatherings and social functions.

Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center’s modern edge is softened by touches of breezy Caribbean style. The slatted entrance, like louver windows, invited sweet scents of plumeria to waft through the open-air corridors, lined with exhibition booths. Greenery edged the entrances of the enclosed conference space, and a modern, open-air bar negated my earlier notion that I’d be spending the majority of my time in the Caribbean indoors.

The conference facilities hosted an array of audio-visual innovations, which added a bit of pizzazz to your run-of-the-mill pie chart. Throughout the duration of the business banter, I soon became oblivious to the lure of Punta Cana’s tropical wiles. I admit, partaking in a few of the included watersports the day prior helped foster my attention span.

Later, I returned to my room, grabbed a KitKat bar and Presidente beer out of the stocked mini fridge and sat out on my private terrace. The rooms were tiled throughout and hosted the added luxuries of a full-sized tub and satellite TV, proving to be nice touches to a fairly large yet standard room. I watched families and couples stroll between the pastel-colored plantation-style complexes, returning from a long day of snorkeling and sandcastle building.

I decided to take a few moments to be alone with my thoughts on the beach before going to enjoy a late dinner at Las Brisas, the Palace’s seafood restaurant. The sun slipped into the silky pink horizon, silhouetting the sailboats resting on the water that was now an iridescent turquoise in the dusk light. The scent of suntan lotion had disappeared with the many sunbathers. I enjoyed the peace born from the lull of waves rolling onto the sand with a “hushhh.” The only other soul was a man strolling along the watery edge that I had seen earlier in the day wearing a hello-my-name-is tag. We quietly acknowledged one another, then returned to our inner dialogues. Mine reminded me of the best part of holding a business conference in a place like the Dominican Republic. It’s not about the time spent reviewing pie charts and bar graphs, it’s about the time afterward. “Now this is what I call happy hour,” I thought smugly, taking a sip of my pina colada and sinking down comfortably into my beach lounger.