Kahkow Experience — Attraction in Santo Domingo

One of my favorite experiences in Santo Domingo. I recommend taking the chocolate tour (15 USD) and adding the soap-making workshop (7 USD), though you can also add a chocolate-making workshop. (When you do the chocolate tour, you’ll see the area where the chocolate is being made.) Inside the gift shop is a cafe, so even if you don’t do the tour, you can visit and try the chocolate. (January 2018)

Update: I returned and have two suggestions: 1) Offer filtered water in a glass if a guest requests it after ordering drinks from the cafe. In any classy establishment, the normal response to a water request should not be, “Buy bottled water from the cafe.” That’s my opinion, anyway.

2. I know it’s difficult to run any business in any country because employee theft is a problem. This business tries to mitigate the issue by having guests order at one point and pay at another point; however, the guest, even if placing an “inside” order, is told to return and pick up his or her food and drink. This approach is suboptimal customer service.

In my case, I was carrying multiple items and was told to go pay and return. I dropped my piece of chocolate on a napkin after another employee unintentionally crowded out available space at the payment counter. I was told they would charge me for two pieces if they offered a replacement chocolate. In this case, the balance between customer service and avoidance of employee theft requires asking a manager to approve a complimentary replacement rather than charging the customer twice. For these reasons, I have reduced my original 5 stars rating to 4 stars....

They make a very brief but interesting tour, during which they let you try the cacao pulp, see a couple of informational videos and to glance at a simulation of a chocolate production line. We paid few extra bucks to get the "chocolate making class", the disappointment levels could not be higher, you are, again, showed the chocolate production line and then they give you 3-4oz of melted chocolate (Dark, milk or white) and 2-3oz of some additional (flaked almonds, raisins, chocolate chips...) So you can put it all in a mold to be cooled down for 15mins; i patiently waited while drinking my "La More" beer, made of chocolate 🤤, (not included). What can be improved? Well, maybe letting the guest to smash some cacao beans themselves, even if they don't use it (for security and health reasons)or to teach how to make a chocolate bar from scratch using only tool we have available at home. Because being honest, it was like paying 10X for a chocolate bar, with the only difference that I held it when it was still liquid in my hands before pouring it in a...

Finishing the trip down Calle Las Damas is the flagship store of Kahkow, a Dominican chocolate company. If your scheduled tour of a cocoa farm was abruptly canceled like mine was, you can still learn and taste chocolate during a Disney-like experience. In a series of rooms, watch ghosts describe the history of chocolate, walk through a cacoa forest, and taste a wide range chocolates. Tickets cost $16 for adults and $9 per person, a steep price even with the high production value. Tours are available in English, Spanish, French, and German. The full experience is wheelchair accessible. The dark spaces and ghosts might frighten or disorient some visitors. If the doors are open, but no one is in the building, the staff is having a prolonged break outside, and you will need to ask them to come back in. Chocolate making and soap making experiences are also...