Cheap Accomodations in Santo Domingo or Punta Cana

I'm planning to arrive on Dec 30 to the airport in Santo Domingo. The only contact I have is working at Club Med in Punta Cana but I can't get in touch with her. My flight arrives in the evening so I need a place to stay in Santo Domingo and Punta Cana.

I'll be doing volunteer work after Jan 7, so I'm on a backpacker's budget.

Any suggestions?

The outskirts of Santo Domingo is about 20-30 minutes away from the airport by car and downtown Santo Domingo is about another 10-15 minutes by car, all in the opposite direction of Punta Cana, so if you are flying into Santo Domingo and want to ultimately get to Punta Cana, Santo Domingo is the wrong direction. Punta Cana is about 4 hours drive east of the Santo Domingo AILA airport.

The closest small town with ample budget lodging to the Santo Domingo airport is Boca Chica, which is about 10 minutes in the direction of Punta Cana by car. See www.BocaChicaBeach.net for a complete listing of the available hotels, their prices, and amenities.

The lowest price room that is still acceptable goes for $20/night high season ($10 low season). Pension Alemania, includes free airport pickup, owner only speaks German.

The Magic Tropical advertises US$17/night but it isn't clear if they have a higher price during the high season.

Mozart advertises US$20/night.

There are about 40 hotels in the US$25-35 price range and any place listed on that web site would be fine. I suggest you get a confirmation by telephone.

Click on the link below and follow the HOTELS link. See MAP link for exact location for Taxi Driver if needed.

if you want to be around prostitutes,losers and drunken tourist looking for prostitutes, boca chica is the place.
if you want to stay in an interesting place, with a nice colonial town, with a lot of culture and nice and friendly people, go to santo domingo.

I'd say you've got part of that backwards.

Boca Chica has no brothels, no strip bars, and only 1 massage parlor, where as Santo Domingo, like any good city, has loads of all of the above and of course, there are a lot more prostitutes in Santo Domingo than in Boca Chica. Santo Domingo is a fine town, but it is a major city and has most all of the perks and problems generally associated with major cities.

The facts:

Boca Chica is a beach town and tourist destination. It is one of the top tourist destinations in the Dominican Republic, and the government has pour lots of money into its modernization in recent years, including new phone lines and poles, new electrical lines, a sewer system, all new paved roads replacing the gravel roads, traffic lights, trash collection, more police. It is also booming in new construction and real estate prices have doubled in 5 years. There must be a reason.

Boca Chica has one of the finest beaches in the Dominican Republic and is the largest reef protected bay in the Caribbean. This makes it perfect for swimming, small children, and water sports. It is also the nearest beach to Santo Domingo. It is hugely popular with both tourists and Dominicans alike.

80% or more of the visitors to Boca Chica are couples and/or families that stay in one of the 3 big all-inclusive hotels.

Many people choose to get married or spend their honeymoon in Boca Chica.

If one does not venture out into the streets very late at night, they will likely never see a drunken tourist.

Boca Chica is my favorite place in the Caribbean.

See www.BocaChicaBeach.net for more info.