After reading the reviews on Casa Dorado, we were gearing up for the holiday of our lifetimes. And while many of the reviews hold true, there are certain issues that are not mentioned and I believe they should. First of all, we might be a little jaded since driving to and from Las Galeras has become a nightmare. I visited 3-4 years ago and found the drive delightful. Now, ironically since they opened a wonderful toll highway from Santo Domingo that gets you from South to North in one hour flat! The rest of the road is terrible, they are laying the aqueduct to Las Galeras and the drive from Sanchez to LG, thru Samana is an exercise in madness...Dust everywhere, broken asphalt, one-way passes...we came back from our vacation with dirt and dust up to our eyeballs and sadly we had to use the A/C most of the time when we'd rather enjoy the weather. Many of the pretty beaches that you could just stop by on the road from Samana to LG are so dusty and noisy that they've become simply not pleasant. If you are planning on driving anywhere around the Peninsula, give them 6 months to finish the works and save your lungs. So we arrived after a long and dusty drive at dusk, ready for a shower and rest at CD...The location is at first disconcerting, while the house is beautiful and very well designed,...After reading the reviews on Casa Dorado, we were gearing up for the holiday of our lifetimes. And while many of the reviews hold true, there are certain issues that are not mentioned and I believe they should. First of all, we might be a little jaded since driving to and from Las Galeras has become a nightmare. I visited 3-4 years ago and found the drive delightful. Now, ironically since they opened a wonderful toll highway from Santo Domingo that gets you from South to North in one hour flat! The rest of the road is terrible, they are laying the aqueduct to Las Galeras and the drive from Sanchez to LG, thru Samana is an exercise in madness...Dust everywhere, broken asphalt, one-way passes...we came back from our vacation with dirt and dust up to our eyeballs and sadly we had to use the A/C most of the time when we'd rather enjoy the weather. Many of the pretty beaches that you could just stop by on the road from Samana to LG are so dusty and noisy that they've become simply not pleasant. If you are planning on driving anywhere around the Peninsula, give them 6 months to finish the works and save your lungs.
So we arrived after a long and dusty drive at dusk, ready for a shower and rest at CD...The location is at first disconcerting, while the house is beautiful and very well designed, you have to understand that it is situated in a small-town Dominican neighborhood and surrounded by shacks and simple houses, and while this may sound quaint, and it is, the problem comes from your expectations of what a quaint Dominican neighborhood means: Dominicans are very ebullient people and there was never a silent moment around the house, people screaming from one house to another, scooters up and down the road, 3 dueling stereos blasting different kinds of music and competing for BOOM power until midnight both nights we were there (Sat & Sun), once the parties die down, it is the myriad dogs' turn to bark endlessly...and when you thought the dogs went to sleep, it is the rooster chorus starting at 4AM and continuing right up to when the stereos heat up again.
While the house, the service and the hosts are great, we would call this a perfect place in a wrong location...We just did not have a relaxing time, this is not a beach house nor it is situated in a quiet neighborhood...After a long dusty drive, or after a full day of sun at the beach...we just could not enjoy that post-beach, pre-sunset nap that we needed and that turned us off the place.
If you live in a...More