The hotel is not new, but is in perfect shape. I went for business and staff is extremely courteous and friendly. It is clean, with good Internet connection and if you are lucky enough to get a room with a view to the "Malecón", then your mornings will be more than perfect.
The choice is quite limited at breakfast but it is still good.
In extremely noisy Santo Domingo, the hotel is like an oasis... not complete silence, but enough to get a good rest.
I lost my Blackberry at the entrance of the hotel and they found it and kept it until I called to find out where it was. Incredible.

Stayed here for over a weekend on a work trip. The room I had was on the 8th floor but it was still a bit noisy at night with music sounds. That didn't bother me, but I heard someone else at the front desk complaining about the noise. The food was fairly poor. Breakfast was OK, big buffet and a nice view of the ocean. The dinner food was pretty blah.

Main complaint is the pool. You cannot see the ocean really (unless you are really tall, I'm 5'2 so...) They have built large planters that block out the view because the pool is right by a very busy street so pretty sure these planters were built to block some of that sound. If that was the reason for these, they do not do the job. The road noise is pretty loud. Mix in the very spa like music (Garth Brooks' papa loves mamma as a spa song?! I had to put on my headphones after that).

Staff are OK, not overly friendly. The bellhop was nice, but every one else does the minimum, so not sure what the Melia experience is, but if it is this it is not the dream vacation location!

Also, a bit odd that my bathroom door does not open all the way. Haven't seen that in a "posh" hotel, only at a dive in Austin, TX where that is meant to be part of the 'charm'.

All in all, weekend stay - OK. Vacation Stay - Not on my list

I spent four nights in SD as part of a business trip and the experience was a good one. The it department of the hotel was excellent. When I was not able to connect to the hotel WLan they installed a single WLan router in my room that enabled me to connect to the network. A few down sides, the coffee in the room is not free but only one sachet is free. Any other coffee sachet used additionally to the first one is charged for. the fruit on the break first buffet is frozen. The casino is like a hunting ground for prostitutes. It is actually disgusting how many American business men pick up young girls there.

I spent two nights in SD last week as part of a business summit and the experience was a good one. The hotel gave me a "private" check in because I was visiting as an Embassy official and the floor which I was situated on had its own dining room and lounge so I had the option of staying on one floor for all my activities. The Happy Hour was luxurious and I got back late from one of my meetings but was still served wine and finger foods. A lovely welcome and a good stay. A few down sides, my room was close to the service elevator so I heard it durig the night. Business centre charged me for printing and Im not used to that, bill had a deduction for a charity which I did not authorize but they removed it once I brought to their attention