Nikki Beach is a high end beach club that started in 1996 and has received such recognition as one of the top beach clubs in the world with recognition from  ”The Travel Channel’s” “World’s Most Sexiest Beach” list where they reached #1. The resort chain is expected to open 10 new locations starting in 2012.

Currently there are 11 cities in 9 countries with Nikki Beach resorts:

• Miami Beach, Florida, USA
• St.Tropez, France
• Cannes, France
• St. Barth, French West Indies
• Marbella, Spain
• Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• New York, USA
• Marrakech, Morocco
• Koh Samui, Thailand
• Cabarete, Dominican Republic  (new)
• Playa Blanca, Panama

The Nikki Beach Cabarate opening is being sponsored by the huge Amber Dune Resort and Spa which is set to open in 2012.  This resort will have 13.5 acres of beach front and about 1050 feet of shoreline. The spa will include a wellness facility, tennis courts, gourmet dining with a tapas bar, conference facilities, room service, 24 hour concierge and a childrens activity club.

Both of these clubs are geared toward the more affluent traveler so it is unlikely they will be on the list of more affordable Dominican Republic travel destinations.

Windboarding in Cabarete

Restaurants
There are many restaurants to choose from along the beach. They generally have indoor, and outdoor, seating, and several are very good. Here are a few favorites:
If you’ve gotten tired of the traditional beans and rice dishes of the region, and just want a good beer and burger, Jose O’Shay’s Irish Pub is the place for you. There is also the option of pizza, cottage pie, steaks, and a few other tasty dishes. The dishes run from $10-20 dollars U.S.

My personal favorite place to eat is Casanova because it is inexpensive (happy hour runs from 4pm-7pm and gives you everything half off), and the ambiance is lovely. The most popular things on the menu are the pizzas and pasta dishes. During happy hour, a meal with a couple of beers will cost around $13 dollars.

On the main road, across from Ocean Dream Plaza is Bayerischer Hof. This restaurant offers savory pork fillets with mushroom and onion sauce, with the option of sautéed or mashed potatoes, or noodles. There is also a good Hungarian stew, Schnitzel, steaks, and other dishes. The prices run from $11-20 dollars.

Shopping
All along the Cabarete main drag, route 5, there are shops with anything you could want to buy, from ice cream and jewelry, to clothes and Dominican trinkets. All you have to do is walk along and peruse the shops as you go.

For those who want to learn how to Kiteboard, several surf shops along the beach offer classes for beginners to intermediate students. The classes are a little steep pricewise (around $249) so it’s probably best to be sure that it’s worth the time and effort to do it.

Hotels
For economy, comfort, and a good night’s rest, I really like the Casa Caribica Sanssouci hotel. A room with 2 beds, a bath, t.v., and kitchen is $20 dollars a night. There are seven Sanssouci hotels in Cabarete, but this one is my favorite. The others are nice enough, but are more toward the center of town where it is much noisier, and so I prefer to avoid them since I like a good night’s sleep.

How to Get There in Public Transportation
For those who have access to a car, it’s an easy drive along route 5. Even in public transportation it is one of the easiest beaches to reach. Any Sosua destined Caribe Tours bus will gets close. Upon arrival in Sosua, there are cars that are marked “Rio San Juan” and/or “Cabarete” and they go all the way through Cabarete.

Baia Blanca Hotel - Rio San Juan Beach - Gri-Gri lagoon

Comfort and Relaxation
Baía Blanca is a three story L-shaped building with around 30 rooms that can sleep from 2-4 people. Each room has a fan, wireless internet access, bathroom, TV, dresser and closet. Steady electricity is not a problem ether since the hotel has a generator. Most of the rooms face the ocean, with a lovely balcony area with comfortable couches for relaxing and socializing.
I prefer the rooms on the 2nd floor, especially the ones on ether end of the balcony, because I burn rather easily and the shade provided by the 3rd floor balcony shields me from evil UV rays. But, if you have skin that allows it and you prefer to bask in the glory of the gleaming sun, by all means go for the top floor. That balcony is a sun worshiper’s paradise. I’ll wave at you as you pass me on your way up…

Picturesque Seascapes
The ocean facing balconies are perfect places to sit and contemplate the serene beauty of the sea, and if you happen to be there late January to early March, it is a great spot to whale watch. Every year humpback whales travel from Alaska to Samana, DR to give birth, and Rio San Juan is en route. Many of the guests come around this time of year and sit on the couches with their binoculars and watch as the whales spout and break the surface of the water as they make their way.

Food and Drinks
The hotel serves breakfast and dinner daily. The breakfasts are simple, but good, with the option of basic morning dishes like toast, pancakes, and the like. Dinner is a bit more elaborate, with pastas, and other dishes that are pretty tasty. My favorite part of any meal is dessert, and they have the best flan on the island. But, you have to request it in advance. Lunch can be bought from several nearby cafes and cafeterias.

Observations Location and Contact Information
Most guests come to Bahía Blanca for the express purpose of quiet relaxation and don’t appreciate loud neighbors. So, if you’re looking for a good party, you might want to consider going elsewhere. However, if rest and relaxation is just what you have in mind, this is the place for you.
And don’t tell all your friends about it. I want to still be able to get my 2nd floor corner room when I go, so let’s keep this between us, okay?

Baía Blanca is located at the back of Gri-Gri lagoon. For further information, call them at 809-589-2563.

Villa Antonia Hotel

If you are looking to go to the Dominican Republic for the beaches, which I am guessing you are, they are after all the Dominican Republic’s biggest attraction. One of the places you are likely to see on the map is Sosua. It is right next to one of the biggest airports in the country, the Puerta Plata airport.

Within about fifteen minutes after leaving the airport you can find yourself swimming in the warm tropical waters of Sasua.  With the benefits of being so close to the airport comes hefty price tag. Eating or sleeping in Sosua is where they’ll get you. If you just came from the States you see a steak for 15 bucks or a hotel room for 100 bucks, you probably think nothing of it. Sure it might be a tiny bit higher that what you would pay for in the states, but not that much.

Yep, You’re Getting Ripped

That’s just what they want  you to think. These prices are normal. But. There not. They know they can get it out of you so they do. The average Dominican doesn’t pay 100 bucks for rent a month. He pays about 15 dollars for a weeks food. He’s not going to pay those prices for things.

That’s just where the trick lies, find out where the Dominican’s go. The problem is you normally are not going to find those places on the internet, that’s where you find the places with money. You have to ask the locals.

It is possible to to find hotels for as little as 15 bucks a night. No, it is not just some shack in the middle of nowhere, some of them are pretty nice. You just have to know which ones. It also helps if you speak Spanish, that will probably cut your price in half. If you don’t, sorry you’re just going to have to live with it.

One place we went to that was reasonably priced was the hotel Villa Antonia. It is about a 10 -15 walk away from the beach and is close to many restaurants and stores.

As you can see in the picture it is just big house divided into different rooms.  Going inside, it a nice welcoming feel to it. It was well decorated and felt like a nice home. There were many places to hang out, with lounge chairs, couches, decks, a swimming pool and even free WiFi.

The inside room our group had was very nice. It had a Full sized bed, TV, refrigerator, had plenty of room to move around in. It also was nicely decorated and had a very homey feel to it.

Can’t say the same for the outside room. It was much more cramped and shared a bathroom with another room. It had a full sized bed and a single bed. The single bed was nice enough, but the full sized was hard as a rock. Thankfully it had fans, but the light didn’t even work.

Over all I would say I would go back, it was a very nice place, but if all they have left is the outside rooms, I’m walking. It came a decent price of $30 a room. If you think you might be interested in staying there you can contact them with the following number.

Villa Antonia
Sosua
(809) 571-1039

Sosua Beach Hotels

Sosua is a small town on the North Shore of the Dominican Republic about 25 miles from the city of Puerto Plata and only a few miles from the Puerto Plata International airport. Being that it is much closer to the Puerto Plata Airport than the city of Puerto Plata is, it is the logical choice when choosing a hotel near where you are flying in. My family has chosen this as our favorite beach so far in our travels in the DR.

It is only a few minutes walk from most of the hotels to the beach. The walk is a perfect opportunity to fill a small ice chest with a few things before heading to the beach. While there are many stores right at the beach, as well as restaurants and just about everything else, we have found that the prices for bottles of beer, water and other items are about double once you touch the sand so you might as well carry in your first round or two.

This beach has plenty of shade trees lining the beach giving you places to get out of the hotter noonday sun, while still being right near the water. Unlike Boca Chica beach if you want to use the lounge chairs on the beach you have to pay for them as well as buying drinks from the guy that will be serving you. Now this isn’t necessarily a real bad thing, but it is a good idea to negotiate before you sit down. Typically, if they are not too filled up you can negotiate just buying one drink per lounge chair and not also paying for the chair, but work that out ahead of time.

Presidente (one of the top beers) is about $80 pesos (a little over $2.00 USD) for the small and about $120 (about $3.00 USD) for the large. They give you small plastic cups to drink from so you can share. If you don’t plan on either chugging the beer or sharing it, I would advise the small. Who wants to drink warm beer (ok other than you Germans in the crowd).

Prices are always negotiable, especially if they have many rooms open. Don’t be shy about asking for a lower rate. Here is a list of Hotels in Sosua:

Punta Cana has its own International airport, and it is often cheaper to fly in and out of here then is it to use the International airports in Santiago and Santo Domingo. You will also find shopping malls, restaurants, banks and almost anything else you will need.

If you happen to forget any necessary medications or you run out, there are drug stores where you can get most of the same products as in the United States. In most cases a prescription is not needed as long as you know exactly what you are looking for.

There are several world calls golf courses including Punta Espada where the Cap Cana Championship golf tournament is held.

Here’s a list of the Punta Cana hotels. As we do reviews on the hotels we will link to them to help you choose the best one for you. Contact us if you would like to have your Hotel reviewed or if we are missing you on this list!.

Feel free to comment on your favorite Punta Cana Hotel! But only Punta Cana Hotels on this page, comments on hotels in any other city or country will be deleted.

We found the rooms in the Colonia to be clean and the beds to be relatively comfortable. The staff was not overly friendly but they were also not difficult to work with and tolerated our inability to speak Spanish fluently pretty well. The best part was that the rooms were cheap. They go from $500 pesos (about $15 USD) to about $1200 pesos ($33 USD) per night. The difference was if you wanted air conditioning, a fan, a mini refrigerator or a TV in the room.

We chose to spring for the deluxe room, $1144.00 pesos covered 4 people (2 queen beds). Well, about 10 minutes after getting into the room the power went off. This is pretty common for the DR, however the higher priced motels have alternate sources of power so you are not affected by the daily power outages. It was about time to go find something to eat anyway so we ventured out in search of food. By the time we got back the power was back on and it seemed to stay on for the rest of the night. When we asked, it sounded like they have a deal with the city where they always get power after 7:30 pm. So you will probably not be stuck in the dark.

One thing we insist on in a hotel room is for it to be clean. That is something Dominicans do pretty well. You will see trash all over in the streets, but once you get into a building it is kept very clean. Our room was no exception, everything was neat and clean.

As expected with a low price motel here it was not in perfect repair. Once again this is very common for the DR. There was a “Shower Head” however the insides were gone so the water just came pouring out of the pipe. One of the lamp fixtures was hanging by the wires out of the ceiling, and although others in the group claimed to get hot water, I was not one of the more fortunate ones, let’s say my shower was “refreshing”.

The motel was conveniently located toward the middle of Santiago, but not quite close enough to all of the night life locations to walk so you would need to take a Taxi, or public car, but those are easy to come by here. It was also about 2 blocks away from a small GuaGua station so if you are coming in from out of town on one of the smaller guagaus it can drop you off pretty close to the motel. You will likely need to catch a public car or taxi if you are coming in with one of the tour busses.

Would I stay there again? Yes.
If you are just looking for a cheap place to stay the night to save your money for going out and visiting Santiago, the Colonial works fine. If you plans are for a romantic night in the motel, this is probably not where you want to be.

This Hotel review was based on our stay on April 10, 2010

Contact information
Consorcio Colonial de Luxe S.R.L.
Salvado Cucurullo Nos 113 y115
Santiago, R.D
809-247-3122

Boca Chica is also located close to the capital Santo Domingo, which makes it a great stopover beach when you get off your flight. A cab will take you right to your motel and the next morning when you get up, you are either a short walk to the beach or right on the beach depending on which motel you choose.

Here’s a list of the Boca Chica hotels. As we do reviews on the hotels we will link to them to help you choose the best one for you. Contact us if you would like to have your Hotel reviewed or if we are missing you on this list!

Calypso Beach Hotel

The Calypso Hotel is a smaller hotel located about a 5-minute walk from Boca Chica’s beach. While walking to the beach from the hotel you walk down streets lined with some of the local artwork most of it having an island flavor to it and also quite good.

One of the advantages of having the hotel a little ways away from the beach is that it is also a little ways from the very noisy Calle Duarte (Duarte street) where most of the Boca Chica nightlife is centered around. It would be hard to call anywhere in the Dominican Republic “quiet” but the small distance from the particularly loud areas help.

One of the main highlights of this charming little hotel are the employees. We got to know several of them pretty well in our stay; all are friendly and do their best to make your stay enjoyable. If you stop by, say hi to Andreas, Rafael and Rosa for us! The staff also goes to great efforts to make sure that the hotel is clean at all times. The pool and the patio areas are well maintained and comfortable.

Calypso Pool

The building itself is an older building that they appear to improving regularly, at this point the rooms are not in the same state of repair that you would find in a new building but the design and age of the hotel is part of what gives it it’s charm. While clean, expect the bathrooms to be a little worn with an appearance of age. The beds were comfortable and each room had air conditioning, color TV with cable, and Wifi.

Each room (that I seen) has it’s own balcony overlooking the pool or the street in front of the hotel. Personally I like the ones overlooking the street. There always seems to be something going on out there and it is usually rather entertaining to us foreigners. Don’t forget the mosquito repellant though. You will want it whenever you go out in the evenings and likely when you go to bed at night.

The security is good, there is always a guard outside the front door and watching over the cars. There is also an eating area where you can relax at the table and snack on something you picked up at one of the local mercados or stores.

This hotel review was based on my last visit to the Calypso Hotel on 12/20/09.

Calypso Beach Hotel
Caracol Esq 20, Boca Chica,
República Dominicana
(809) 523-4666

View From Room

Calypso Hotel Patio