We had a great time at this hotel and were very pleased with the junior suite and executive suite where we stayed over the course of our visit but we had 3 complaints.
1. When we first arrived the lock on our door didn't work and it wasn't until the next morning that they were able to fix this problem. It wasn't due to a lack of effort on their part but we didn't feel comfortable leaving our belongings when they were working on the lock so we lost some valuable time for sightseeing during our short visit.
2. When we returned for the 2nd part of our stay after visiting the beach, there was no record of our reservation. They were able to get us into a different suite but the 2 room junior suite was no longer available.
3. When we checked out, we were charged a higher rate than was listed online and what we thought we had signed up for when we made the reservation online. They say they change the rates weekly and they wouldn't honor the published rates. The confusion came from the email confirmation which listed a price that said "including the 26% tax" but which in fact did not yet include the tax. We ended up paying $70 over the published price for the room which left us with an unpleasant feeling despite a wonderful visit.

The employees at this hotel were very helpful, the location is ideal, the rooms were spacious, and the breakfast was fine. We would consider staying here again but I would be more attentive to the price and be sure to check the math to ensure we were actually paying the price we thought we agreed to when making the reservation.

I spent 10 days in this hotel and found it to be relaxing. This hotel has an excellent location in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, it takes a matter of seconds to arrive at Calle El Conde, which is pedestrianized street with several bars, shops, restaurants. Everything is within walking distance. The room in which I stayed was a Superior room this was spacious with high ceilings and full affective air conditioning. It was cleaned every day and the noise from the street could not be heard at night. The hotel has a pool, gym and WiFi. I managed to change my Dollars to Pesos with a rate which was better than the nearby banks or Casas de Cambio.

I found the staff polite, courteous and helpful. Everyone from the maids, receptionists and even the security guards were polite. There was one incident, where a taxi driver had ridiculously overcharged us for a trip to Punta Cana, I had informed 2 of the receptionists (Bianka and Ramona) of what had occurred and they called the driver back to hotel and managed to get our money back, which was extremely appreciated.

Check out is at 1:30 pm which is brilliant.

Breakfast consisted of: toast, cereal, juices, pancakes, croissants, sausages, bacon, ham and cheese. The first few days of our stay the sausages and bacon were cold by the time we arrived for breakfast, but later on during the stay they were still hot by the time at we came down at 10 am. I would definitely stay here again.

Hotel Palacio is the former house of a former President...with an interior which opens for numerous balconies, Carribean trees growing within the interior and a smart staff, this is a great hotel for the "local culture" set.

In fact, Palacio is everything that is beautiful about the Dominican Republic--warm, cozy, somewhat understated (compared to the gaudy drink-and-gamble hotels that seem to dominate the city). If you want an escape from all of that, Hotel Palacio is located in the heart of the colonial city, with an esperesso bar a half-a-block away (Cafe Mico, I believe) owned by some Italians that I will never forget.

In fact, I spent 5 days watching the World Cup, drinking espresso and discussing film with Italians and Germans while the Carribean slumbered and all manner of tourists stumbled around me towards destinations unknown. Hotel Palacio is graciously free of all that, a simple boutique hotel within walking distance of the ocean, a plaza amazingly beautiful and a sleepy city still waiting for someone to awake it from its slumber.

It has a rooftop pool but no one has explained to the owner that you don't close those in the evenings:) In fact, ignoring the "pool closed" rule was the only law I broke in that beautiful country, and when you see the pool you'll know why. A nice little tapas bar (ok, sorta tapasy but more like cold cuts:) serves hot breakfast before kicking over to the snack food for evenings, but within two blocks of the hotel are two crazy-good restaurants,so that's no loss...

All in all, Hotel Palacio is a sweet, clean and quiet hotel, just enough off the cruise-ship path to assure a pleasant stay:)

My partner and I had decided to travel around the Dominician Republic by car and we selected Santo Domingo as our central point. We wanted to stay in the Zona Colonial but the service we booked our hotel through placed us in another part of town. We found Palacio for our second night and were delighted with the location and charm of the hotel. The parking garage was an added plus! It was nice to be able to walk everywhere and see the history of the area. I'd recommend a paid tour guide for the full experience. There is so much to see and it's great to have the history of the place explained. We went to Museo De Las Casa Reales and spent some time with a tour guide, knowledgable and very interesting.
The hotel offers breakfast in the morning, nice spot to grab coffee and a light bite in the quaint patio area, but there are so many amazing places to eat nearby. great bakeries...see recomendations for food in Santo Domingo.
This place is a hidden gem and has so much charm. Grateful we found it.
My only regret is that we didn't have much time in this area and there was so much more to experience.