Occidental Gran Punta Cana

Get some pesos, but do not get them in the hotel or you will get creamed on the exchange rate. If you have to use dollars outside the resort the right rate in Punta Cana is $1 = 39.6 pesos.

megamania said:

Hi Sky, thanks for your input,,,quick question,,,where outside resort would you exchange u.s. dollars to pesos?? like on the street? or are there actual vendors that do it??? Appreciate your help.

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Go to an exchange house. Caribe Express has some offices there to exchange money at a good rate. They pay more than you would get in a bank. The price I gave you before is current. If you want an update before you go you can PM me.

You can go to an exchange (casa de cambio) or, and this is true in most countries, you can go to any bank and use the ATM there... easy to do, just like at home. Your debit card from home will work, you'll get good rate, and it's easy. Depending on your bank and type of account, you might pay a foreign transaction fee and/or ATM fees. The local bank will charge an ATM fee of a couple of dollars.

Vendors and shops will take dollars also. You won't get the BEST exchange.. but it's typically not too bad.

Also... everyone gets all worked up over exchange rates... but in the end the difference is pennies. In my opinion, it's not worth the anxiety over it.

I'm not familiar with the Occidental Grand, so can't comment on that one specifically.

In that area most gift shops in the area receive dollars and often have their prices marked in dollars. Keep in mind you might get pesos as change if you don't have the exact amount. Restaurants normally price their menus in pesos and as stated before will receive dollars probably at a slightly less favorable exchange rate than a bank or casa de cambio but unless you've got a large bill the difference won't be that much. Larger stores and many restaurants also accept credit cards if that's another option for you.

good point about the change being in pesos. My son went to dinner at Outside Inn, (unfortunately now closed) and got pesos as change, which he was not happy about. It wasn't his first time in the D.R., so I don't know why it surprised him, but it rubbed him the wrong way. I think he just assumed that because Outside Inn had such a great reputation, (well deserved), and that we were regular customers, that he would be able to get his change in U.S. dollars.

Pretty much everywhere I went accepted US$ in PC. The big difference is what exchange rate will you pay. Stores and such that price in RD$ will not all use the same conversion rate, even across each other. I now stop and get RD$ when I arrive, as well as having US$ with me. It's actually surprised a few restaurants and stores when I had RD$ to pay them, as they had already converted to US$.

There's a cambio near the Occidental, but if you take a cab to Plaza Brisas, you'll find a better rate at that cambio in the plaza. Depending on how much you convert, it might not be a huge deal. As mentioned prior, with some amounts, we're talking pennies difference. You can also exchange money at the front desk, but the rate is the worst I saw when there and they frequently run out or only have smaller bills (US$100 is almost RD$4,000, and they only had RD$100 notes this one time).

And whatever you do, do *not* exchange money at the airport, and have US$10/person for the vacation visa.

megamania said:

Hi Sky, thanks for your input,,,quick question,,,where outside resort would you exchange u.s. dollars to pesos?? like on the street? or are there actual vendors that do it??? Appreciate your help.

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Generally, to my knowledge in most places around the world, the best/safest exchange rates are obtained from the ATM's...the rates are negotiated by the banks..of course you may or may not need to pay your bank and a local bank ATM fees, but these are usually reasonable and even then you may be better off with the ATM's (the ATM's give local currency regardless of where in the world your bank is).

Occidental Flamenco is fine...I actually hate the dico or rather its public (it is open to the paying public and draws a rather low-class local crowd, including some prostitutes and "beach boys" trying/hoping to pick up foreign women)...but they won't bother anyone who actually doesn't want them...security is good and very strict... After the night show there is a lobby party or activity (ca. 11:00p-12:30a) that makes going to the disco unnecessary unless you really want to stay up until late...and that is exclusive for hotel guests...last time I was there the most noticeable groups were Russians and French people...Most behave well, though.

Dominicaus said:

Generally, to my knowledge in most places around the world, the best/safest exchange rates are obtained from the ATM's...the rates are negotiated by the banks..of course you may or may not need to pay your bank and a local bank ATM fees, but these are usually reasonable and even then you may be better off with the ATM's (the ATM's give local currency regardless of where in the world your bank is).

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Most U.S. banks charge US$5 foreign ATM fee. Most DR banks charge 120 pesos, or US$3, for foreign card withdrawal. Most ATM's will not allow you to take more than 4.000 pesos per transaction, some will only allow you 2.000 pesos. Those allowing you 10.000 pesos or more are scarce. Popular has most ATM's around and allows only 4.000 psos, which is US$100. So paying US$8 fee on US$100 does no seem that reasonable to me.