Did not want to go all inclusive, and found this great hotel at a great price. Booked though the internet and paid £35 per night for a large room, with two small double beds and a lovely balcony overlooking the gardens. The hotel has a faded grandeur about it, and looked like it once aspired to greater things. But the rooms were spotlessly clean and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Cortecito is a charming village, located on a beautiful beach. Capitan Cooks restaurant is a must to visit, especially if you like sea food. You can sit in the open air restaurant and watch the fish, lobsters etc that are on the menu being brought in from the sea.

Stayed for a week, and met no other English. A lot of the Dominicans we met did not speak English, so we had fun trying out our Spanish.

Following my husband's advice, we headed out to find this 'amazing place' . We arrived in the early evening, and the sun was still out. Well... the lobby was dark and foreboding. The staff was much too casual. We were handed a key and told to go check the $60 per day room. 'Go behind the pool, the building to the left, second floor'. Nobody came out with us, although they obviously were not over worked. The grounds were terribly unkept. Weeds, brown grass, over grown landscape, unclipped hedges, broken side walks and uneven grounds. We saw the pool and it was sitting there in all its dirty and murky splendor. There was a 'cabana' behind it with closed shutters. About this 'Cabana' were two layabouts with uniforms, sitting around, and smoking. The grounds looked deserted. We skipped our way through the broken brick walks and realized this was once a grand place. Circa 1950's by the construction and style. My mother guessed it was a 'Trujillo Era palace' and the front desk staff confirmed it was so, that it was owned by one of the dictator's relatives.... Anyhow, I digress. We climbed the wide steps to the second floor and took to the left. There were these motel looking doors. All gritty and dirty looking. We persevered and walked to 'our room'. Opened the door with this huge old fashioned key. The walls were smudged by something that looked like a bodily fluid, and I dared not guess what. The switch cover was filthy. I regretted flicking it. There were two dirty full sized beds. The bed spreads stiff with dust. The walls smudged. The floors dusty. A huge fridge. No TV. A sink with no soap. The sink was old, dingy and circa 1950's. The bathroom door was beat up, and smudged with God knows what. What else? Yes, it was creepy. I got a cold shiver up and down my spine.
We walked back, past the layabouts, the filthy pool and handed over the key. My elderly mother was in tithers- laughing to herself like you do when you are completely grossed and freaked out. The clerk was not surprised and immediately offered up a 'better room' he and his friend looked at each other, the friend nodded, and he added 'but that room would be $80.00 USD per night... each' . He looked like he had the routine down pat. The sun was setting, we had no reservations and he thought he had us. But I knew I would not put my mother through that misery so we walked out.
The neighbourhood of El Cortesito is an old one. The beach is right across the hotel but it was walled in by a bunch of shacks and hostile looking people.
I am a native Spanish speaker, and I know this culture: this was not a safe place for women traveling alone, and I would even dread it for any one. There was a good supermarket right next to the hotel. There were also a few bars. There were a lot of Germans and Russians about. The atmosphere screamed 'get out' so we did. I am sorry if I offend anyone who liked this place, but I would rather be safe than sorry. This place is an armpit.

If your on a budget and want to stay in a no-frills place, this place will suffice. Since we were traveling to several areas and not sure how many nights we needed, decided to stay at El Cortecito Inn instead of staying in one of the resorts. Check-in was easy, the manager was friendly, the place looked clean and a nice pool area. The room was spacious, older decor, clean, BUT...the sink was clogged and the bath facets dripped ALOT of water. When I told the manager, he assured me they would send maintenance to fix the problem...the hotel was not very full, so when I asked if we could change rooms on the 2 day...the manager gave me a key to check out a room 2 doors down from our room and it didn't have a TV or lamps., so we decided to stay in our assigned room, after he assured me once again that maintenance would fix the leaky facets. We stayed 4 days and the problem was never taken care of except I unplugged the stopped sink myself! The beds were average, the air conditioner worked great. You have to ask for more towels and they don't have washcloths, so you might want to bring some of your own. The breakfast was fantastic and the service staff at breakfast were friendly and very attentive. Good choices of fruit, fruit juices, coffee, cereals, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, ham... and they will gladly make grilled ham/cheese sandwiches for you. Great location, and secure off-street parking. BRING earplugs for sleeping. A local bar across from the hotel plays LOUD music until the wee hours of the morning! The whole 4 days we were there, I never saw another American at the hotel. Mostly French. I think. I tried to say good morning etc. at breakfast ,but the other guests were actually rude to us. Not friendly at all. We don't speak french or spanish so that is a barrier to deal with. The dominican people were always VERY kind, but otherwise we felt very isolated from everyone else.
You MUST have a meal at Captain Cooks across the street from the El Cortecito. The best shrimp and lobster I've had in a long time. Great views and service, right on the beach,a little spendy, but worth it. We also enjoyed Steve's Bar (close vicinity to El Corteceito) loved the location on the corner where you could people watch. Next time we visit Punta Cana I think we will stay at one of the resorts, but still venture outside the gates.

My husband and I have stayed couple of times at this hotel. It is right across the beach (150 mts). It is very inexpensive and if you just want to get to know punta cana and spend most of the day at the beach you can save a couple of bucks by staying here. However, this hotel is defintely not the cleanest one in the area.