Hotels
Casa de Campo provides its own immigration and customs
facilities at its private airstrip (one can fly direct from Santo Domingo or San
Juan), or guests can fly into La Romana's international airport a short taxi
ride away. Guests are very busy here, driving cars or golf carts around the vast
grassy grounds and palm-lined driveways, which extend to Altos de Chavon, a
remarkable Tuscan village overhanging the Rio Chavon gorge.
The main building and accommodation clusters feature tropical decor and designs
by local fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, an investor here. Guests draw up to
a thatched porte cochere entrance attended by bell-staff crisply attired in red
uniforms. Reception is to the left in a glass-walled, air-conditioned lounge
with travertine floors and a mix of Oriental antiques and copper vases; VIPs get
their own executive check-in lounge. Reception is thoroughly professional. Once
delivered to their accommodations, guests find a private golf cart for use
throughout their stay.
The resort offers more than a dozen eateries, including a slate of new restaurants within the recently opened marina complex, and including the atmospheric options within Altos de Chavon. Informal, yet tasteful dining areas serve excellent Continental, Italian, Mexican, French and standard international favorites. A grill supplements these offerings, and the golf, tennis and shooting clubs have dining facilities of their own. Most of the restaurants offer children's menus and highchairs. Appealing to hunters, Safari's is full of marksmen's trophies and memorabilia.
The restaurants are complemented by a dozen bars, including the new and very hip Pot Bunker Sports Bar, serving excellent snack dishes and entrees, and featuring a pool table and sports on the big screen. The large pool refreshes guests, as do the swim-up and thatch-roofed bars, centered on La Cana Bar, with a soaring Palenque ceiling and indigenous-inspired decor evoking a colonial Singapore theme. Live bands perform here, although in low season we found that they played to an empty room. Guests who prefer English-style pubs will find what they're seeking at Altos de Chavon.
Seven pools stud the grounds, including one at Playa Minitas, although some are
open only in season. The resort has a disco, but the prime after-dark attraction
is the entertainment in the 5,000-seat amphitheater at Altos de Chavon, where
the Kandela Afro-Caribbean-themed cabaret is hosted in season and where top
international singers also perform.
Hotel Santo Domingo is centrally located near the commercial,
financial and entertainment districts along Santo Domingo’s main boulevards, the
picturesque Malecon, the Hotel Santo Domingo is the preferred hotel of many
heads-of-state and international business travelers. Surrounded by 14-aces of
lush tropical gardens guests staying here feel as if they are at a laid-back
island resort within a major international city.
Renaissance Jaragua Hotel and Casino is located two miles from the city's Colonial Zone and craft market and approximately 20 miles from Las Americas International Jose Francisco Pena Gomez Airport. This location is also one mile from El Conde Peatonal (shopping street) and about a 45-minute drive from the beach. Hotel amenities include the three restaurants, cocktail lounge, fitness center, outdoor pool, full spa, whirlpool, sauna, and one of the largest casinos in the Caribbean.