Booking hotels on the spot

bart

New member
Oct 15, 2011
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Hello!

I am planning to finally visit DR in the first half of November. Problem is that I will only know a few days before departure whether the trip will actually take place. Still, I would like to make a roundtrip (thinking of Punta Cana > El Seibo > Santo Domingo > Jarabacoa > Cabarete > Las Terrenas, and back) and just book rooms upon arrival at the hotels.

Can somebody tell me whether this will be possible? I would prefer not to end up without a room as all hotels are fully booked.
 

VJS

Bronze
Sep 19, 2010
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I never book hotels in DR prior to arrival and majority of them are not available for online booking anyway. Never had a problem, and you can almost always negotiate a discount in person. It certainly helps if you know available options before you arrive.
 
May 29, 2006
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The key to this is to arrive in the towns before dinner time. You can also haggle well in most hotels at this time of day. However, if you show up after dinner, the hotels are much less likely to cut a deal. It helps if you are traveling light so when they quote a high price, you can start walking down the street. Early November is still well before peak season, though some hotels may be asking for peak rates.
 

bart

New member
Oct 15, 2011
3
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0
Great to hear that, thanks a lot for the quick response and the tips!

To about what percentage of the standard price can you bargain down the rate?
 

Bahoruco

Member
Jun 24, 2011
46
6
18
You won't have a problem to find a room. Only in weekends it gets a little bit more busy, but even then you are able to find a room.
Only during Easter hotels can be full in some areas you mention, because then you have very much Dominican tourists.

Advantage is also that you can see the room before taking it. They offer always the more expensive rooms first, but ask for the cheaper room. In case they give a discount (not always), it can be around 10%.
To reduce the price you can take a room with ventilator (no A/C), in November it is not warm at night.