when you arrive at the hotel Palacio, you feel like at home. friendly reception combined with a perfect service, there is a gym at the third floor and even a swimmingpool on top at the fourth floor and everything is clean ,like you could eat from the floor..............breakfastbuffet is delicious, there is a german management and everything works 24 hours, which is not typical for santo domingo ! When I'm in town, I go just there.
thanks again to all the personal for the nice treatment.

We found this hotel through hotels.com and got a very good deal. It was in the midle of the old town.

We drove from Punta Cana (with not problems) everyone told us that there was bad directions and hard finding Santo Domingo, but we had no problems driving to Santo Domingo from Punta Cana. This hotel had free parking for our car, and thats great since every hotel ive stayed at have charged us alot. They also offered us free internet !

The hotel rooms was clean with cold rooms. Very charming, reminded me of the TV serie Bonanza. On the top of the hotel there was a swimming pool, and a jaquzzi. Clean and we got the pool for ourself.

The best thing with this hotel was the location, nearby to almost everything. Its in the middle of the center !

Me and my boyfriend have travelled all over the world, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, England, Balkans, Egypt, Germany, France, America, Asia etc. but I must say ive never been so dissapointed of the partying in Dominican Republic and in Santo Domingo. We were expecting much more from this city. No charm or no "culture". I wanted to experiance real dominican food, all we got was crapy junk food at the restaurants.

We read alot about Santo Domingo before deciding to go, I must honestly say It was very interesting seeing the New World. But Santo Domingo felt like a "ghost town" comparing it to Cities like Barcelona and Paris.

Punta Cana beaches was fantastic. But I would not go back to Dominican Republic. Everything was overpized 100 times compared to Europe (and I do live in one of the most expencieve countries, Norway). I have never experianced paying so much for anything just because I am a tourist. A bit more is normal, but the pizes we got was bloody!! They wanted 3 times more for our rent a car then our "dominican" tourist neighbours payed.

But if you do decide to go to Santo Domingo, this is with out no doubt the best hotel you can find !

I just returned from a five night stay with my wife and two children (ages 4 and 7) in Hotel Palacio in Santo Domingo. We are very much looking forward to our next visit to this charming and comfortable hotel in one of the great cities of Latin America. Hotel Palacio is an amazing deal -- we paid just over $600 for five nights! The rooms are quite large, clean, and well maintained, and ours had lots of natural light thanks to the two french doors that opened up to a private balcony. Granted, if you can only live with 5-star luxury and all of the finest amenities, you will not be happy here, but then again you may not be happy with most places in Santo Doming if that is the case. However, if you like a small, peaceful, attractive, hotel with great character, unique rooms, and gorgeous interior patios this is the place for you. I highly recommend room 128, which has a beautiful private balcony that overlooks the delightful interior courtyard where guests enjoy an excellent breakfast buffet each morning. Or, better yet, reserve suite 136 -- with its beautiful bathroom and amazing rooftop terrace with great views of the city. Since it only had a king bed, we opted for 128, which had two queens. The other suite (I think its 108) was darker and a bit musty. I would not recommend it. Make your reservation through the hotel and request a room with lots of light. Some of the rooms are a bit gloomy.

A word about the breakfast. The selection of coffee, tea, chocolate milk, fresh fruits, cereals, yogurt, excellent fresh breads, juices, pancakes, eggs, etc, was impressive, especially given the price of the hotel. However, there was some confusion as to whether the breakfast was included in our rate or not. I was asked to pay $10 per person the first day, but when I presented the receipt that I had printed from the Hotel's webpage, they saw that it stated clearly that a full breakfast was included. In short, be sure to have something in writing that says your breakfast is included as I saw that some guests were a little surprised when they were asked to pay. Even at $10 dollars, though, I think the buffet would be worth it, especially if you're only paying about $100 per night.

The service at the hotel was average, and the employees were friendly enough. The only real problem we had was that the staff was terrible about relaying messages. I had a couple of friends living in Santo Domingo (both are native Spanish speakers so language was not the issue) who tried to call me several times and were transferred to the wrong room or told that I was not at the hotel. I also had a friend stop by and leave a note for me at the front desk. Despite the fact that I stopped by every morning or evening to ask if there were any messages, I got it about 24 hours after he left it and ended up missing my chance to see him. Next time I'll just not be a cheapskate and pay the $2/minute on my iphone!

The rooftop pool is great for a little relaxation after a day of walking around. But don't tell anyone about it -- it seems like a secret since no one was there the times that we went.

Finally, the location is superb. Great shopping on Calle el Conde is right around the corner, the Cathedral is about a five minute walk, and all of the other places worth visiting in the Zonal Colonial are very close by. Several great restaurants are also nearby. The food in Santo Domingo is excellent. Try Mesón de Lu, Fonda del Barí, or La Briciola.

You definately will not go wrong with this hotel. Its a hidden gem in the centre of the old city with rooms surrounding a calm colonial courtyard away from all the bustle. The red brick arched cloisters, bathed in history, have a very majestic aura. The rooms are of a very high standard, clean and airy (particularly the upper floors with skyline views across the city). The breakfast was included with our rate which again was of a very high standard offering everything from fresh fruit to a full cooked breakfast. The hotel is run by two very helpful gentlemen who helped us with everything from planning our travels around the country to changing a car battery! The price was very good and we really felt like we really got a lot more than what we paid. PS Don't miss the pool up on the top floor to relax and soak up a little sun between explorations on the city.