boca chica hotels or villas?

[stimpy]

i've ran across a couple places to stay in Boca Chica but does anyone have any suggestions as to where the best place to stay is? villa or hotel? much appreciated.

[ricktoronto]

AI or non-AI? (there are 3 AI of varying quality)
"Guests" allowed or not (most allow, some like Zapata don't really by booting out the guest at 6 a.m. - but Zapata may be a nice family place and it is on the beach)
Pool? Or at the beach? Cheap? Moderate? $25 - $40- $75?
A/C or not? TV or not?
Right in town or in the area - will you have a car? Or walk and use taxis?

As far as villas, e.g. renting an entire house I haven't seen that in Boca Chica - there are not that many good houses that are not used by people living and running businesses etc., there. Maybe none, really.

Other than VERY busy times like Semana Santa, August (Italian visitor month) , and Xmas it is fairly easy to find quite an assortment of places to stay.

[stimpy]

No guests, just two of us. I'd prefer it to be on the beach, w/AC. Do the AI's make you purchase the AI packagae? I'd prefer an option to either buy the AI package or waive it as I'd like to enjoy food outside the resort. I haven't decided whether or not I will rent a car or use taxi's? thanks for your help.

Originally Posted by ricktoronto

AI or non-AI? (there are 3 AI of varying quality)
"Guests" allowed or not (most allow, some like Zapata don't really by booting out the guest at 6 a.m. - but Zapata may be a nice family place and it is on the beach)
Pool? Or at the beach? Cheap? Moderate? $25 - $40- $75?
A/C or not? TV or not?
Right in town or in the area - will you have a car? Or walk and use taxis?

As far as villas, e.g. renting an entire house I haven't seen that in Boca Chica - there are not that many good houses that are not used by people living and running businesses etc., there. Maybe none, really.

Other than VERY busy times like Semana Santa, August (Italian visitor month) , and Xmas it is fairly easy to find quite an assortment of places to stay.

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by stimpy

No guests, just two of us. I'd prefer it to be on the beach, w/AC. Do the AI's make you purchase the AI packagae? I'd prefer an option to either buy the AI package or waive it as I'd like to enjoy food outside the resort. I haven't decided whether or not I will rent a car or use taxi's? thanks for your help.

Don Juan is on the beach (shared) and Hamaca is on the beach too (private) and yes, you pay the whole AI thing since they can't tell who's paying or not for food and booze otherwise.

On the beach proper you have Zapata and Don Emilios pretty well side by side and next to Don Juan and they are in the $50 range and not AI at all. That is the sum total of actually on the actual beach.

Unless you plan to cover a lot of ground I would skip a car (I go a lot and never rent a car) and use taxi's - I am not convinced the $40+ tax and expensive gas a day is going to be cheaper than a taxi when I can hire a van and driver for 12 hours for $75 and go all over hell's half-acre. And driving is maniac class at best.

And within Boca Chica you can walk the length of the town in 15 minutes and the height of the town in 10.

www.bocachicabeach.net has the skinny on all the hotels with pictures. If you are going off season you may find DJ or Hamaca are pretty good deals vs. a package from the USA or wehrever you are. Or look at a flight and hotel package which may be cheaper still, though they kind of peter out in the summer and don't fly to SDQ much if ever, preferring la Romana some 60 Km away instead.

From what I've seen of it the Hotetur Dominican Bay is not worth considering - it is the 3rd AI and not on the beach at all.