Hostal Condo-Parque — Hotel in Santo Domingo

Condo Parque is in a great location, handy to all the Colonial Zone sites and a few blocks walk to the malecon, the walkway along the Caribbean Sea. It is affordable and has a very friendly staff. My favorite part of this relatively small hotel is the garden restaurant and bar. Breakfast is included in the room rate. One of the most enjoyable experiences of my visits to Santo Domingo has been eating breakfast in the interior patio restaurant. Just passing by the hotel you wouldn't realize that enclosed within the walls is an oasis of peace and hospitality. Sit in the small restaurant sipping your breakfast coffee or at the bar drinking a cold Presidente beer in the afternoon and you'll get a feeling of what it must have felt like in the colonial days inside a home that centered around an interior courtyard. The restaurant is simple and peaceful and quiet compared to the busy Colonial Zone outside. While eating you'll probably hear the squawk of the parrots or the splash of a small turtle in the little garden pool.||You'll encounter a wide variety of people at the hotel: backpackers/students staying in the hostel type room, European tourists in the studio apartment type rooms, and even a "high roller": staying in the penthouse. All rooms, including the penthouse with its rooftop terrace are simple and clean and affordable. ||I had some great conversations at breakfast with people from just about everywhere. ||I can't think of anything I disliked about Condo Parque. For the affordability, location, cleanliness, service, staff, it is an excellent value. If you are looking for luxury this is not the place for you, if you are more of a traveler than a tourist this is the...

I wanted to make sure to mention this place because I had a lot of bad experiences and the owner really helped make my vacation very enjoyable. He is from Switzerland, speaks 7 languages/5 fluently, is a great cook, a good tour guide, and host European Soccer parties at his bar, as well. The airline lost my bags and he called the airline 2 days in a row to put pressure on them to get my bags and the 3rd day they showed up. He took me the Boca Chica beach twice and would not accept any money. He also gave me all kinds tourist info. and made the best goulash that I have ever eaten.|| This hotel is also like a mini zoo because he has birds, turtles, a dog and fluffy black cat. The dog would act so innocent around the owner! However, as soon as the owner was out of his eyesight the dog would eat the cats food out of its bowl or play with the cats tail while it was trying to sleep or lay down. || This place is in a good location, but the owner was wrong about going to this bar called "Grandes" a few block down in the Zona Colonial. Although the owner said that this is a very dangerous place to go, I went there every night, had good food, drink, music and met a lot of||locals. || I thought that Santo Domingo as a whole is a real dump and has the most polluted beach that I have ever seen, but the low room cost, friendly staff and nearby bar and large city fitness center made up for everything.. Females should never travel alone in the day or night time, unless it is a very short trip...

This is probably the best 'youth hostel' experience I've had. The people here are just really, really marvelous! My roommate will be, I think, a good friend after we both leave the D.R. This morning, a band from Hait was rehearsing down the stairs. On one level, that is luck, but it isn't just luck. There is a lovely community that is being created here.||||The cons: the sheets are awful! They don't stay on the beds. The 'fitted' sheets go about 2" down the side of the mattress and continually come off in the night. Also, you have to turn the electricity off when you leave the room, which means you can't store perishables in the fridge. I killed a cockroach. But it is a super-cheap, safe, nice place a 5 minute walk from the zona colonial. I would highly...