Where to stay in Dominican Republic

The all-inclusive question

Punta Cana and Bávaro are built almost entirely around all-inclusive resorts, and for a beach week the maths usually favours them.

• Check whether the quoted rate already includes the 18 percent ITBIS and the 10 percent service charge. Some booking sites show the bare rate and add 28 percent at the end.
• All-inclusive does not mean everything. Premium spirits, à la carte restaurants, spa treatments, motorised watersports and excursions are usually extra.
• Tips are still expected even where the brochure says they are not needed. Cash in small notes.
• The resort strip is not the country. Punta Cana is an enclave, and you will see very little of the Dominican Republic without deliberately leaving it.

Other options, and where

• Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial has the best independent hotels in the country, in genuinely historic buildings, at a fraction of resort prices.
• Cabarete and Las Terrenas run on smaller guesthouses and apartments, and suit longer, slower stays.
• Jarabacoa and Constanza, up in the mountains, are cool, green and almost entirely domestic tourism. Worth a couple of nights for the contrast.
• Samaná is where whale watching happens between January and March, and accommodation books out well ahead for it.

Practical

• Air conditioning and a reliable generator are the two things worth checking. Power cuts are frequent, and a hotel without an inverter or generator means no fan at 03:00.
• Hot water is not universal in cheaper places, which matters less than you would think in this climate.
• Short-term rentals are widespread and legal, and Airbnb is well established in Santo Domingo, Cabarete and Las Terrenas.
• Hurricane season runs June to November. Book refundable rates in September and October, the peak months, and check the cancellation terms rather than assuming.