Hotel Villa Iguana

We stayed for two nights while visiting Saona Island. The rooms were spacious, had air conditioning, and were generally in okay shape. Secure parking is available, though the room safe didn’t work. Breakfast was quite basic, and they only take cash. There’s also a $50 deposit, but they don’t clearly explain what it covers. Getting it back at checkout took a while because other guests were having payment problems, which held us up.

The rooftop pool is amazing and the location is great. Our ground-floor room got noisy very early in the morning, so next time I’ll ask for one on the second floor. Remember to bring cash to pay for the room.

We found several cockroaches in the bedroom and bathroom when we got back from dinner around 10:30 pm, and didn’t feel we could stay the night. Earlier, the reception area had smelled unpleasant, though we didn’t think much of it then, and the room had seemed fine before we went out. There was nobody at reception, so we asked the bartender for help. The staff did refund us without a problem, but finding somewhere else to sleep at 11 pm was stressful and inconvenient. This shouldn’t happen at a hotel.

The rooftop pool is great and open 24 hours, and the food was good. There are lots of bars and a marina within walking distance, nice for an evening stroll, though a good beach isn’t walkable. Dominicus beach, the best one in the area, is a 9-minute drive away. The place was clean, the staff were very friendly, and it was excellent for the price. They only take cash, but I don’t think you’ll find a better value hotel.