Few know that Frank Rainieri, the man that created the Punta Cana destination in the East, is related to the founders of the first tourism hotel in the Dominican Republic. Rainieri’s grandparents, Isidoro Rainieri and Bianca Franceschini, originally from Italy, migrated to Puerto Plata in 1898, and early on noticed there was a need for a hotel for travelers. They founded the Hotel del Comercio, which later they named Hotel Europa.
Last month, the Rainieri Kuret family inaugurated an important contribution they have made to the rescuing of the cultural patrimony of Puerto Plata city, the renovated Callejon de Dona Blanca. This is a walkway that connects Beller and John F. Kennedy streets in the historic Victorian city center of the city. The renovation of the street marks the 110th anniversary of the Rainieri’s arrival to the DR. During the inaugural, Rainieri highlighted that Puerto Plata had the first aqueduct, first power plant in the country, as it was a prime port of arrival for those traveling here. Dona Blanca, as she was known, ran a profitable and popular hotel operation. She had nine children that she raised practically on her own as her husband died in 1914, when her eldest son was but 17 years old. One of these was Frank Rainieri’s father.