hotel bayahibe

irishpaddy

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
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on my recent trip to d.r. I wanted to visit isla soana and booked myself into hotel bayahibe....reasonable price $65 a night
when I arrived the hotel seemed clean ...and was close to the marina....paid by credit card and proceed to the room...which was a nice size ..checked bathroom..it was clean ...unpacked....and then was going to go for a walk ....and went to find the room safe ....there was none...I went to front desk and she suggested giving whatever I wanted to one of the staff to put in a drawer.....are you kidding me...in this day and age a hotel with no room safe
I decided to leave the hotel....they refused to cancel the credit card payment....I will naturally call the credit card company up and refuse to pay for the room
I went to cadiques Caribe....which was a bit more expensive ....but a lot more hotel
 

j. jetson

Banned
Aug 27, 2014
311
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on my recent trip to d.r. I wanted to visit isla soana and booked myself into hotel bayahibe....reasonable price $65 a night
when I arrived the hotel seemed clean ...and was close to the marina....paid by credit card and proceed to the room...which was a nice size ..checked bathroom..it was clean ...unpacked....and then was going to go for a walk ....and went to find the room safe ....there was none...I went to front desk and she suggested giving whatever I wanted to one of the staff to put in a drawer.....are you kidding me...in this day and age a hotel with no room safe
I decided to leave the hotel....they refused to cancel the credit card payment....I will naturally call the credit card company up and refuse to pay for the room
I went to cadiques Caribe....which was a bit more expensive ....but a lot more hotel

I rented a room for a few hours at the hotel bayahibe years ago. Close to the marina and captain kidd's restaurant. Also close to where you can rent out mini speed boats.

I haven't used a safe in the DR in many years.
 

HUG

Silver
Feb 3, 2009
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Dominicans don't refund, you should know that (and more foreign owned businesses are taking up the same policy/attitude). If a safe is ultimately important to you (which it obviously is, the deal breaker) then this should have been the first thing you checked. After checking the room you then signed a contract of payment based on you being satisfied with what you had seen. The hotel is under no obligation to refund you, and shouldn't.


This is such a TA thread!

FFI, the cabanas/casitas on the left are only RD950 and really nice and friendly.
 

jeanchris

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Feb 27, 2012
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Just so you know, just by watching a few videos on youtube its really easy to open most safe in an hotel room. People that think its safer because theyr a safe in a small hotel are wrong.

When i travel with lot of money, unless I am in a trusted/really big hotel i never leave money in the safe. If I have to leave it in the room, always in a pair of socks in the suitcase!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

HUG

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Feb 3, 2009
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I honestly do not understand why people need to be carrying large wads of cash these days. ATM machines were supposed to resolve this issue, and have to the point that travelers cheques are almost void these days.
I know people talk about machines being rigged, but if you are intelligent and use the machine inside the doors of a bank 24 hour and where you have a security guard then you are very safe to withdraw money. If you use a machine like the Popular machine in Zona Colonial (you couldn't find a worse place to put a machine, around an unlit corner) then obviously you open yourself up to being cloned. And smart phones were supposed to resolve the issue of needing to take your Laptop abroad with you, and so even this does not need to be put in a safe. You have the camera on the phone, everything on your phone that you could possibly need to put in a safe. Wear your jewelery and watch, so what else?

So....................................

Why are people carrying large wads of cash?
 

kaykat18987

New member
Nov 25, 2013
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i stayed at that hotel for one night before doing the isla soana , i paid 1100 peso for the night. 65 is expensive
 

irishpaddy

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,166
460
83
Dominicans don't refund, you should know that (and more foreign owned businesses are taking up the same policy/attitude). If a safe is ultimately important to you (which it obviously is, the deal breaker) then this should have been the first thing you checked. After checking the room you then signed a contract of payment based on you being satisfied with what you had seen. The hotel is under no obligation to refund you, and shouldn't.


This is such a TA thread!

FFI, the cabanas/casitas on the left are only RD950 and really nice and friendly.

first off hug...I paid for the room before I checked it....I was happy enough the hotel was clean....I was of the belief that every hotel had a safe in the room...did not think it was necessary to ask about it first
when I found out it wasn't available and they expected me to hand my belongings to an employee...that's when I left...within 30 minutes
I believe the hotel should refund the money and you believe it should not...ill let you know what the credit card company says
and the '' large wad of cash" was my vacation money...not for buying drugs
by the way what is TA thread?
 

HUG

Silver
Feb 3, 2009
3,940
1
0
first off hug...I paid for the room before I checked it....I was happy enough the hotel was clean....I was of the belief that every hotel had a safe in the room...did not think it was necessary to ask about it first
when I found out it wasn't available and they expected me to hand my belongings to an employee...that's when I left...within 30 minutes
I believe the hotel should refund the money and you believe it should not...ill let you know what the credit card company says
and the '' large wad of cash" was my vacation money...not for buying drugs
by the way what is TA thread?

Well, all in all you learned a lesson and so in the end the education was worth $65.

A TA thread to me tends to be a thread where people unnecessarily bitch about experiences, mountains of mole hills etc.
 

j. jetson

Banned
Aug 27, 2014
311
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If you use a machine like the Popular machine in Zona Colonial

There is a Banco Popular ATM inside the California Department store, Calle Duarte and El Conde, Zona Colonial (also a teller window adjacent to the ATM). California Department store has a rooftop parking area on Calle Duarte, just south of El Conde, which is free, if you purchase something at the store.

In Gazcue, a Banco Popular ATM inside the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

On Calle Isabel la Catolica, about two blocks up from El Conde is a secure Scotia Bank ATM with a watchie man at night. In the past and maybe still now, Bank of America debit cards incurred no fees when using Scotia Bank ATMs.
 
Jan 3, 2003
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How is Bayahibe? Is it nice there? Is El Parque Nacional del Este worth it? Have they the government opened up a path to La Aleta (ancient Taino worshipping center in the park)? I have never been but I am curious about it!
 

j. jetson

Banned
Aug 27, 2014
311
0
0
How is Bayahibe? Is it nice there? Is El Parque Nacional del Este worth it? Have they the government opened up a path to La Aleta (ancient Taino worshipping center in the park)? I have never been but I am curious about it!

If you like water activities, boating, scuba diving, nice beach, Bayahibe can be a nice base. Lots of panga type boats in Bayahibe, some with two or four outboard motors, that take tourists who arrive by bus, to isla saona and other places. Catamarans and yachts can also be seen in Bayahibe. I have seen a good number of Italians in Bayahibe and Dominicus (the two towns are adjacent to one another, no traffic lights in either town when I visited, so driving there is relaxed and easy). Guaguas and motoconchos can be found in Bayahibe and Dominicus.

Higuey is less than hour away. Boca de Yuma less than half an hour. Punta Cana/Bavaro probably an hour or less. Santo Domingo about two hours.

La Romana is 20 minutes or less away and can be fun with friendly people. Airfare for Sept. and Oct., jetBlue, New York JFK to La Romana LRM, direct, round-trip, last time I checked was around $336US (all taxes and fees included). LRM is a nice, quiet airport.

Biofluorescent Night Dive - Rep?blica Dominicana, Bayahibe (La Romana), Park Reef (Isla Saona):

[video=youtube;5TBnfUNhk4U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TBnfUNhk4U[/video]
 

j. jetson

Banned
Aug 27, 2014
311
0
0
How is Bayahibe? Is it nice there? Is El Parque Nacional del Este worth it? Have they the government opened up a path to La Aleta (ancient Taino worshipping center in the park)? I have never been but I am curious about it!

The mini speed boat rentals place, did tours from Bayahibe to the River Chavon. Part of Rambo and Apocalypse Now were filmed on the Chavon River.

Altos de Chavon is within 30 minutes of Bayahibe. A recreation of an old European village by a set designer for Gulf and Western (which might have become part of Paramount Pictures).

There is a design school at Altos de Chavon (that offers classes to adults who are not enrolled there) that is affiliated with Parsons School of Design.

Outdoor concerts at the amphitheater at Altos de Chavon in the past included Sting, Elton John and the Chairman of the Board (Frank Sinatra) video from his concert at Altos de Chavon, La Romana: [video=youtube;Dg4vB3SutPw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg4vB3SutPw[/video]
 

j. jetson

Banned
Aug 27, 2014
311
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0
Elton John, concert, La Romana, 2014;

[video=youtube;-nltJRQCELc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nltJRQCELc[/video]