First of all it has to be stressed that although the region has a lot to offer the tourist in the way of incredible natural beauty, the tourist infrastructure is minimal, apart from in the Barahona area. Pedernales is gearing up to cater for ecotourism and that is reflected in the quality of the small hotels there.
Baní - nothing in town but there are some places in Salinas, the windsurfing beach nearby.
Azua - forget it as far as accommodation is concerned! The best place to eat is Cira, but leaves a lot to be desired.
Barahona - many more options here. The old Riviera is now called Larimar. I stayed at Hotel Caribe which is OK. Further along the coast there is the Swiss-run Casablanca - quite nice but no hot water, and Casa Bonita is supposed to be much better.
Pedernales - Doña Chava is charming, clean, basic but comfortable although no hot water.
The other good option is called Bartolina, less charming but more comfortable.
San Juan de la Maguana has Hotel Gallery which is adequate, with a fairly good restaurant serving Mexican dishes as well as the usual Dominican fare.
The Maguana is the state-owned hotel built during Trujillo's regime and was recently renovated. The rooms are clean but the service is not so great, and it does have a certain air about it reminiscent of pre-1989 Eastern Europe! The food is correspondingly terrible.
For photos of the spectacular south west, see
my flickr site.
Good hotels in the south west - 2007 update
and 1 block from the Cathedral in city center.
