Ocean Breeze Studios — Hotel in Santo Domingo

So I decided to wait in order to write this review so I could be more objective. If I had written it immediately after my stay it would have probably only consisted of an expletive and a two thumbs down emoji. It's been about a 2 weeks since my stay (June 8-11) and I will try to give an objective account of my stay and the hotel. The GOOD: The hotel itself is a nice enough facility. I believe it has been renovated since some of the past reviews were made. Hard wood floors in room, balcony with key access, TV can be programmed to english, AC that works too well, room is a good size, big fridge, the bed and pillows are so/so - I didn't have a problem with them but if you're used to "luxury" you might be uncomfortable, and I believe there are 2 24 hour food places close by which is convenient.||THE BAD: Before I book ANY hotel when I travel for vacation I always call ahead to make sure that what they advertise online is what I'll be getting (i.e. room comes with AC and a safe yadda yadda) also since I'm a single traveler it allows me to call ahead and make sure I'm able to comply with their policy on "guests" in the hotel. When I called ahead BEFORE booking online I was told that all a guest of mine would need is to present ID that would be photocopied. Seemed reasonable so I booked. At checkin I asked the same question and got the same answer, seems easy enough. So when I actually bring a guest over after a night out at one of the local bars the person at the front desk doesn't address me at all he instead starts a dialogue with my guest (entirely in spanish). Being an english speaker I could not follow what was being said. My guest ends up leaving and this is when the front desk clerk finally addressed me and tells me that he couldn't let my guest in because it is after 10pm, and that the contract I signed at chekin backs this up. I told him that this goes against what I was told both over the phone and at checkin - he pretty much says he's just doing as he's told - fair enough. I ask to see the contract that I signed. On the front page is the name of the hotel, some information that I filled in, a bunch of stipulations that I agreed to (including the part about guests presenting ID) and a space for the signature on the bottom. I remember signing and agreeing to this. The front desk clerk now shows me the back page of the agreement and it has additional stipulations on it. At the time of signing the clerk placed the contract in front of me and said read and sign at the bottom, never indicating that the contract carried on after my signature at the bottom of the front page. I tried to explain to the clerk that the contract was faulty at best and should have a second signature at the bottom of the stipulations at the second page thereby acknowledging that I have read and agree to them but again he said I'm just doing my job -fair enough - My only issue with him specifically is that he primarily spoke to my guest at length in spanish rather than talking to me directly the paying customer. Management needs to make sure ALL employees know the hotel policies and should review the contract they have guests sign.||THE UGLY - I don't much care to have cleaners in my room. I've never had anything taken/stolen from my room but I've heard horror stories from friends and have read enough reviews online. So I've always preferred to simply decline the maid service this way if anything were to ever go missing or lost I would have no one to blame but my own carelessness and could rest assured that the hotel was not at fault. My entire stay at the hotel was only about 36 hours due to my flight getting in really late. I had declined the cleaning service when I woke up the first morning since due to my flight getting in late I had only been there about 7 hours. and denied it again the second morning. The lady at the front desk spoke to me that second morning and STRONGLY insisted that my room be cleaned, came off as rude. I agreed to avoid further conflict but I told her to instruct the cleaners to wait until I got back. I repeated this again before exiting the hotel "wait to clean until I get back". I was heading out to get food and I figured that if the room must be cleaned I wanted to be present if anyone was going to be in my room with all my stuff. Of course when I returned I found that the cleaners had already been in there and they threw out a piece of paper that was not garbage.|| ||This was the last straw, I was furious and chose to check out early and book at another hotel/apartment absorbing the cost of the extra night I had paid for. ||||I should mention that at no point was I offered an apology for anything. The response was either "i'm just doing my job or the clerk would just try to pass the buck and blame someone else. If any one of them had employed even the most basic of customer service skills they would have offered an apology and referred me to management.||||Moral of the story: If I were travelling with a family with kids I might consider booking this hotel. Otherwise (Couples/Singles) I would literally book anywhere else as there are much cheaper options within a 2 minute walk. I learned that the hotel is WAAAAY overpriced. And for what I paid (pretty much the price of a hotel in Toronto/Chicago) I would expect to be treated...

this is a reasonably priced hotel in the colonial zone of Santo Domingo.....It is clean and spacious....the staff is very helpful,attentive and always on hand 24 hours....the price is very reasonable at around $45 a night....it is within 2 minutes walk of the colonial zones main attraction conde st....cabs are 1 block away...grands restaurant is 2 minutes away also....the rooms come with a stove and refrigerator very good air conditioning and very hot water in the showers...i have stayed in the modern 4 story hotel 6 times this year and due to the storms coild not make my appointed reservation....they do not take your money if you need to change your reservation they allow it free of charge....there is no elevator but the staff carry your luggage up and down cheerfully....i highly recommend this place if you are in the colonial zone....it is also 5 minutes to the ocean,5 minutes to caribe tour bus station..200 pesos by cab...or 1500 pesos to the airport...i recommend you use a cab driver by the name of sommer...i actually left my wallet with $2000 and my passport in his cab and he returned it ...very dependable...drives a spacious late model white hundai... very honest young man...sommer 829 656...

I just returned from DR and while I enjoyed the trip, I did not enjoy this hotel. The day manager, the only woman who worked behind the desk, was a bit slimy. After booking this room through another site, she said that I could only pay cash upon arrival. She said the credit card system was down. When I refused, the system miraculously began working. Once in the room, I found it dark and dreary. There was only one overhead light so the room was dark. Not such a big deal. The problem I had was seeing several roaches after the 2nd day. I informed her and she casually said she would take care of it. No one ever came to do anything. According to her, the hotel was fully booked and no other rooms were available. A friend stayed on the 4th floor and there was no elevator. Again, not a deal breaker but with everything else it made the experience unpleasant. The other staff members were pleasant and accommodating, but I won't stay at this...