Las Ballenas Escondidas

A peaceful, good value place with a lovely garden and beautiful views of Samana's Bay. It’s a small hotel, with about 25 guests at most. The comfortable bungalows don’t have AC, but open directly onto the pool or private beach. A friendly French couple own the hotel, and the restaurant is good. Breakfast, though, was minimalist. I’d recommend it to visitors who want decent quality at affordable prices in a quiet setting.

Beautiful hotel, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the price. My husband and I stayed from 03/20/2016 to 03/23/2016, though our booking ran through 24/03/2016. We were so disappointed that we left early. It wasn’t the worst hotel in the area, but it wasn’t worth the cost, and I think there are better options nearby. We had bungalow 5B, which was supposed to be the best room, but several things were wrong. The Jacuzzi didn’t work. The shower had hot water for two minutes, then needed about five minutes before it worked again. The ceiling fan was broken, and the available one made so much noise that we’d rather go without it. There was also very little privacy, since the neighboring bungalow’s balcony almost faced ours. The breakfast was poor for the price. For two people, we got a small plate with a few pieces of fruit, three slices of bread cut in half, jelly, a glass of juice, and a cup of coffee. The hotel in Bayahibe where we paid $29.00 served a better breakfast. There are no bath amenities, either. Smoking is allowed everywhere. The owners smoked next to guests, including at breakfast, which really bothered my husband and me because we don’t smoke. Also, on arrival the owner wanted to keep my passport in the hotel safe. I refused because it was my only ID in the country. No other hotel had asked for it; they’d only made a copy. I thought this was a very bad practice. The beach isn’t good for swimming because the sea is rough, and there are no beach chairs or umbrellas. There are much nicer beaches nearby. The hotel is far from everything, with no market or other restaurants around. There is a restaurant at the hotel, but it’s very expensive. Bookings require a deposit through PayPal. PayPal charges the seller a fee, but the owner tried to pass the $15 charge on to me. I had to explain by email that the fee wasn’t my responsibility.

Pretty bad. The breakfast was poor and the shower was damaged. One night the power went out while we were asleep and stayed off for nearly the whole night. With no fan in that humidity, it really sucked.

We had a wonderful time at this hotel. Great service, clean rooms, and good food.