I have been staying at Hodelpa Caribe Colonial on regular basis for the past five years and I loved it! The last time my husband and I stayed before this last weekend was in December of 2006 and it was amazing as every previous time. We got to know the entire staff and everyone starting with the General Manager were more than friendly, there were our family in Santo Domingo and we really felt like coming "home". This weekend were returned to find a complete disaster! The General Manager was gone and apparently with him the friendly staff. We got a "Superior" room on the 2nd floor where A/C did not work properly and the humidity was unbelivable. We hardly slept. In the morning, we were suprised how poor the breakfast was, there was no orange juice and we had to chase someone around to get a cup of coffee. Than we were told that the breakfast was no longer included in the price (while every time for the past 5 years it was!!!), and an unfriendly staff member was demanding a breakfast ticket from us. When checking out, there was nobody to help with the luggage, but there were at least 4 staff members just staring at us (doing nothing at the time!) as we were leaving with 6 pieces of bagagge, and a 6-month old baby. Nobody moved their finger at all! Overall, I will never go back to this place again and If you care about some customer service, stay away from it.

This hotel is the best thing going in Santo Domingo. I have been there a few times now and I notice that the management listens to the guests' suggestions and makes adjustments when necessary. The quality of service is great. The staff did everything to make me feel at home. Everytime I go there, they have implemented something new - this time it's free wireless internet throughout! If you've never stayed here before, the bathrooms are small, but so what? You are staying in a foreign country! The Hard Rock Cafe is right around the corner, and there's a bodega across the street that sells everything from groceries to medicine, so you'll never have to worry about forgetting to pack something. I don't think I could ever stay at any other hotel in Santo Domingo. They have officially spoiled me.

I was staying elsewhere in Santo Domingo, and happened to pass by the property. It was inviting from the street, and even better inside.
The property has a cool, hip lobby ("W" type), but done tastefully and not overboard (a little of that can go a long way - and esp when I'm looking for local charm when I leave the country).
The rooms are clean, lovely.
The breakfast is outstanding - beats the standard fare I had elsewhere.
i also like the outdoor patio, nice place to sit and watch the city go by between touring and dinner.

I'd stay here again in a minute, would recommend it to anyone.

My husband and I stayed at the Hodelpa from 11/30-12-3. It was in a great location- walking distance from everything. the staff was nice and helpful most of the time. The room was... SMALL- very very small- we laughed when we walked in and just said "oh well" for the time you spend in your room it was fine for us. then we tried to shower and well that had us in a laughing fit because the water would run for about 2 mins and then we'd have none- then it would come back after a minute and so on.. after the first time we learned to soap us fast and wait for the water to rinse off.. we were on vacation and instead of complaining and ruining everything we just took it for what it was worth and LAUGHED. It was located in the perfect spot to walk everywhere and not worry about anything. We never felt unsafe either.