La Casona Dorada

We were exhausted and stayed the one night, but this was the worst experience. Check-in took forever, and the first room on the fourth floor was cramped, with a rock-hard full bed and a twin. They changed rooms after I complained, but I said it was okay too quickly. The replacement wasn't renovated: old furniture, no safe or phone, a moldy refrigerator that switched off when we left the room, and a cockroach crawling along the wall. We have video. The bathroom had a dirty Jacuzzi instead of a stand-up shower, no curtain, and a sliding door with an ugly curtain. We had to hold the shower setup to keep water off the floor. The air conditioning took ages to cool the very hot room. The gym was unusable because it felt like a sauna. Breakfast was good, and the woman cooking was probably the best part of the stay. When we complained at checkout, they kept saying, "that's what I booked." The room didn't look like the website photos, and I asked why they didn't post pictures of the room we got. Stay away, I'm sure you can find a better hotel.

The location and cleanliness were good, and I got a warm welcome. The pools and gym were nice extras, but mosquitoes in the rooms need to be dealt with, perhaps by putting in repellents. Breakfast didn't start on time, and some staff could use a refresher. Music and noise went late, making it hard to sleep at 11 pm since the rooms aren't soundproof. I had added a day to my stay, but the system checked me out and locked me out of my room. Reception eventually let me back in after I spent time sorting it out, but that shouldn't have happened.

The rooms are a problem because the AC never seems to work properly. I reported it to the manager, but nothing got fixed. The Dominican Republic is hot and humid, so a hotel needs good air conditioning for a comfortable night's sleep.

The room was tidy and the linens felt fresh. It's a beautiful, clean place, the employees were very helpful, and breakfast was good.