Hotel Panoramica Barahona — Hotel in La Hispaniola

To spoil ourselves we booked a bit of a more expensive hotel on our journey through DR. The accommodation website showed beautiful pictures and a lot of praising reviews about the hotel and especially the owners. Unfortunately they weren't present. ||After a long drive we got to the hotel, being welcomed by a local family who were taking care of the house. The house was in a beautiful colonial style and we got the impression that it was more of a guest house than a hotel. The family unfortunately didn't speak any English so we tried to communicate as well as we could in Spanish. They let us know the air-conditioning was not working. Luckily this was fixed in the evening before we went to sleep. She showed us the room and although the room was very spacious and the view was beautiful, we were quite disappointed. The downstairs area was not a common area but it was "claimed" by the family that lived there. It felt like walking through their living room to get to your own room, their personal stuff everywhere. The room itself was nice but the bed was not very comfortable. Everytime my partner would turn I would wake up and visa versa. The mosquito net was too small for the bed. The bathroom only had cold water in the shower and there were tiles missing from the floor, filled up with gravel. There was also a tile missing from the (by the way; gorgeous!) jacuzzi, showing all pipes and drainage underneath. The toiletpaper holder had green mold on it and some power sockets were broken, showing wires. What supposed to be the highlight of the hotel was the balcony. The view was amazing if you would ignore the broken balustrade and the ripped cushions on the chairs on the balcony. ||They also have a lovely swimming pool but unfortunately the bottom was full with mud and sand and they only cleaned the pool on the day we left. ||All in all I think the owners do not know in which state the house is when they are away because as I said, the reviews were very positive when they were there themselves. The people that occupy the house might not have the same idea about what a guesthouse/hotel/B&B is. If I pay about $100 per night I do not expect a place where there are no towels on arrival, she has to find a key because she lost it, the a/c needs to be fixed, the swimming pool is not clean, the living room is a mess etc.||I would really like to come in contact with the real owners so I can show them some pictures of the mishaps and hopefully they can rectify it before they will get more unnecessary negative experiences, because the potential of the...

We stayed here for four days and enjoyed the place enormously. We arrived without a car (bus to Barahona and an inexpensive taxi ride to the hotel) and were a little worried about that, but did fine without it. There are restaurants a few minutes walk away, and another that delivers really good food at good prices. The Canadian owner’s will help you with the details.||||The owners are very helpful, friendly and, we thought, determined that their guests will enjoy their stay. This is a small “hotel,” more like a B&B, set on the shore with palm trees waving in the tropical winds. There was a wonderful cooling breeze that swept through the room in the evening which obviated the need for ac, and a pool in the back to take a cooling dip. The bed was comfortable, and breakfast was fine.||||All in all, nothing to complain about and a...

My wife and I stayed here for 6 nights and were very please. The highlight of our trip was getting to interact with the owners. They offered great suggests for places to go, like the beaches around and also tour guides. We ended up going to Bahia De Los Aguilas and thought it was a must see if you're in the area. The pool was fantastic, the breakfast each morning was tasty and the views of the ocean was phenomenal. Overall, we were pleased with our stay. Expect some inconveniences with the infrastructure of the country but trust that you're well accommodated...