My buddy and I decided to go to Dominican Republic in February.

I personally tend to prefer a more authentic exeperience, but I'm not opposed to resort towns.

I will say that I had a pretty good time staying at a resort in Cancun (despite having previously scoffed at the idea of going to a resort). BUT we did leave the resort every night, and I didn't feel like I was stuck on the resort.

We tend to revolve our trips around eating and drinking (we prefer bars over clubs) while also doing cultural things. Right now I'm personally leaning towards getting a hotel in Zona Colonial.

For what it's worth, I speak Spanish (not quite fluently but was enough to get by when I went to Spain and Mexico)