Coral Hamaca in Boca Chica

[Andi]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum. And I have a question about the Hamaca hotel in Boca Chica.
Has anyone of you stayed there recently? I would be very glad about some information about the hotel, e.g. are there differences between the rooms (should i request a special one?), is the disco crowded, what kind of people are there (age, country,...), what about the casino, the pool, the private beach, and the all-inclusive offer?
I would be happy about all information I can get.
Thanks a lot

Andi

[ricktoronto]

There are 3 AI's in Boca Chica and Hamaca is the biggest and "best" of the three. They do have an illegal private beach accomplished by walling off a public beach (under DR law) from the rest of the beach, although its position is such that additional beach area isn't available thus they are not dividing the beach in two, per se.

I have stayed there and an AI room is an AI room ,frankly they are not worth a damn to upgrade unless you want to be closer to the beach but really one can walk the entire area in 5-10 minutes so paying to be at the beach means probably paying for more noise. A TV, some iodine-y water each day in a jug so you don't have to buy bottled but you will, a bed, a place for your clothes, a toilet and sink and so forth. It looks a great deal like a hotel room, being it is a hotel room.

The food is bland but safe and has themes each night but tends towards most AI's - buffet style with no shortage of what Americans would (over)eat at a cafeteria at home. There are two dee-luxe restaruants you can eat in once per visit , Chinese and "French" IIRC, still not haute cuisine.

There is one food place with snacks like pizza and burgers open quite late and one bar, the one near the beach open 24 hours, so you can be **** drunk all day for free if you want. They use decent liquor, the wine is appalling and the beer is Presidente draft which some said is not as good as in bottles, or is "watered down" , which is doubtful as that cannot be easy to do. But it is free.

The disco and casino are open to the public, the public pays a fee (for the disco) so they drink without paying cash as it is too hard to sort out guests from hotel guests and thus there can be quite a mix inside - and a fair number of prostitutes though you can't get them to a room inside - not for moral reasons but becuase Hamaca thinks they might eat something.

There is some keno type game in the casino best avoided ( or we suffer the nine million posts about it again from the loser who spent his life savings on it) - and there are both pesos and dollar bets. Stick to dollars, as winding up with a lot of pesos as an AI guest may mean you cannot spend them before you leave and selling them back for US$ is not easy.

There are multiple pools, one set near the beach and one nearer the buffet pavilion. They have water in them and you swim in them as a result, I have no idea what more you would expect to know about them - there are no sharks, underwater mines or enemy subs threatening your safe AI wonderland.

Summary - safe, clean, bland, boring, AI. Like them all, but sheltered from real Dominicans, the sign of a true vacation "away" from where you live. If you take the dark windowed bus from the airport (probably La Romana since there are few charters into SDQ any more) you may luck out and see nobody local at all .

For the same money per week, more or less you could stay in a small tourist hotel, eat in restaurants and see people in the country you are "visiting" as a "tourist" but that is "risky" doncha know. You'd still be able to use the disco and casino anyway.

[Tracy]

I leave tomorrow to stay there.. I can let you know when I get back.

Tracy

[Andi]

Thanks ricktoronte and Tracy for your information.

@Tracy
Wish you great vacation at DR. I am looking forward to your report.

Andi

[Tracy]

Originally Posted by Andi

Thanks ricktoronte and Tracy for your information.

@Tracy
Wish you great vacation at DR. I am looking forward to your report.

Andi

Thanks Andi,

I will be there the 14th- 20th and back to work on the 21st..
It will be my first time to stay there, but my 4th trip to the Dom. Rep. I will let you know what I think when I get back.

Tracy

[FestiveDog]

Originally Posted by ricktoronto

The food is bland but safe and has themes each night but tends towards most AI's - buffet style with no shortage of what Americans would (over)eat at a cafeteria at home. There are two dee-luxe restaruants you can eat in once per visit , Chinese and "French" IIRC, still not haute cuisine.

There is now a Dominican restaurant, too, which was pretty good.

Originally Posted by ricktoronto

For the same money per week, more or less you could stay in a small tourist hotel, eat in restaurants and see people in the country you are "visiting" as a "tourist" but that is "risky" doncha know.

Sorry, but the people you "mingle" with in Boca Chica proper are pretty seedy. Take some day trips to Sto. Dgo. and while there eat in restaurants and see the people---don't bother doing that in Boca Chica.

[jmaz98]

Originally Posted by Andi

Hi all,

I am new to this forum. And I have a question about the Hamaca hotel in Boca Chica.
Has anyone of you stayed there recently? I would be very glad about some information about the hotel, e.g. are there differences between the rooms (should i request a special one?), is the disco crowded, what kind of people are there (age, country,...), what about the casino, the pool, the private beach, and the all-inclusive offer?
I would be happy about all information I can get.
Thanks a lot




Andi

Rick's reply is right on. I've stayed at the Hamaca three times for reasons that I won't go into here. However, it's still possible to stay at an AI and still see the real DR. It does require, however, foregoing a meal or two at the hotel and venturing out to some of the local restaurants and bars.

You can eat reasonably well for not a lot of money at many of the local restaurants in Boca Chica. You can spend some time on the other side of the wall at the public beach, drinking Presidentes with some of the local residents.

Some of the staff at the Hamaca will tell you how dangerous it is outside the hotel property, but by taking normal precautions, you'll be safe.

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by FestiveDog

There is now a Dominican restaurant, too, which was pretty good.



Sorry, but the people you "mingle" with in Boca Chica proper are pretty seedy. Take some day trips to Sto. Dgo. and while there eat in restaurants and see the people---don't bother doing that in Boca Chica.

Not the people "I" mingle with and you know when you stay stuck inside an AI with a bunch of people from where you live you are not mingling with anyone local.

[Tracy]

Originally Posted by Andi

Hi all,

I am new to this forum. And I have a question about the Hamaca hotel in Boca Chica.
Has anyone of you stayed there recently? I would be very glad about some information about the hotel, e.g. are there differences between the rooms (should i request a special one?), is the disco crowded, what kind of people are there (age, country,...), what about the casino, the pool, the private beach, and the all-inclusive offer?
I would be happy about all information I can get.
Thanks a lot

Andi

Hi Andi,

First off the weather was absolutely beautiful..

Before going and after reading some different reviews I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly suprised. I do not feel that it deserved some of the very harsh reviews I had read. Everyone will have their own reason for staying there, but mine was to visit my friend that lives in Santo Domingo.

I booked the deluxe oceanview and requested a king bed. I was very suprised at the size of the room and the balcony was huge. The balcony alone was almost the size of my room at the Barcelo Beach in Punta Cana just a few months ago. I did walk over to the gardenview rooms and thought the area was nice and quaint, but did not actually see a room. The pool area also looked nice. The Mexican restaurant is located by the pool. I did not visit the disco or casino so I can not comment. The beach was ok, but I like the beaches in Punta Cana much better. The water was very calm and is great for cooling off. There were plenty of beach chairs available, and the people seemed to be quite a mix. Young and old, couples and families and several different countries. Dominican's, French, and Americans.

The "24 Hour All-Inclusive" program includes:
Stay, Unlimited national drinks and cocktails, available 24 hours a day, and meals. Breakfast Buffet at "La Cotica" 7:00am-10:30am
Continental Breakfast at "Delimar" 7:00am-11:00am

Lunch Buffet at "La Cotica" 12:00pm-2:30pm
light lunch at "Delimar" 12:00pm- 2:30pm
Pizza Station 11:00am-6:00pm
Snacks at the "Delimar" 12:00pm-5:00pm

Dinner Buffet at "La Cotica" 6:30pm-9:45pm
A la carte menu at "Rigoletto"(Italian rest.) 6:30pm-10:00pm
A la carte menu at "El Charro" (Mexican rest.) 6:30pm-10:00pm
reservations required at the A la carte restaurants
Night snacks at "Delimar" 11:00pm-6:30am

Daily activities, House wine included with dinner, windsurfing, kayaks, sailing, snorkeling, windsurf and sailing classes, gym and sauna, mini golf, tennis, night
entertainment with the activites team, towels and chaise longues in the beach and pool area's, all service fees and charges.

Safes in the room are NOT included, they are for $3.00 a day.
Mini bar in room you are allowed ONLY 2 cokes and 2 beers a day.
Bottled water replaced when emptied.

Passes: Day Pass 10:30am- 5:30pm Mon - Thurs $30.00 US
Fri - Sun $35.00 US
includes lunch at the buffet or snacks at the beach, national drinks, use of beach and pool.

Night Pass 6:30pm - 11:00pm $20.00 US

Disco Pass 400 Dominican Pesos

adding a person for a night $60.00 US

On the day and night passes they will tell you guests are not allowed in your room.

All in all I was happy with my stay here. I never had problems with anyone understanding or answering in english. I was asked one time in the elevator by a worker if i would like company during my stay, I just smiled and said no thank you.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions. I will post some pictures when I get them back.

Tracy

[FestiveDog]

Originally Posted by ricktoronto

Not the people "I" mingle with and you know when you stay stuck inside an AI with a bunch of people from where you live you are not mingling with anyone local.

I'm sure that is true, didn't mean to imply that you mingled with the wrong crowd. Sometimes, especially on this board, it's easy to forget that the country has good people with good hearts. I remember this in Boca Chica when I see all the school children in their uniforms leading normal lives just two streets up from the madness along the beach.

But... you have to admit. If a brand new person to Boca Chica leaves the resort, particularly the Hamaca, and wanders down the road, they are going to get sucked into the seedy side of Boca Chica right away. Best to travel to Santo Domingo.