Hotel La Casona Dorada (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)

Quite a number of guests mentioned that the room rates here were especially low. Given that they felt, in general, that they received decent accommodation in a good location, they concluded they had received good value for money.

Guests were generally happy with the location of the hotel, saying the neighbourhood looked fine to them and they were close to the business or attractions that had brought them to Santo Domingo.

Once getting over the language barrier, guests found the staff to be very friendly, and willing to go out of their way to help them with their query or concern.

Quite a few guests mentioned that the hotel staff’s English language skills were exceptionally poor, even the front desk staff. Those who knew little or no Spanish seemed to experience quite a few problems understanding and being understood, which could obviously lead to issues.

Guests staying as late as July 2016 were complaining that the hotel was undergoing some pretty major renovations. It was definitely not the case of the contractors just blending into the background, since many guests reported that the noise and dust did adversely affect their stay. Guests who feel it may be a problem are advised to check whether the project has been completed before proceeding.

Guests clearly did not think much of the hotel’s fitness centre. There were a number of complaints, but the gist of them was that it did not provide a decent range of working equipment and physical space that would actually allow guests to use the room for a proper workout.