My suggestion to you if you are a first timer would be to forget the villa and visit Samana. There are many lovely small hotels that can cater to your needs and there are lots of good restaurants in the Las Terrenas area. In Las Terrenas we can recommend the Colibri Apartment Hotel that has a good kitchen -- with a well stocked supermarket in the area (and good restaurant in front of the beach, and sufficiently near many beach restaurants). Or you can choose full relaxation at the isolated Las Ballenas hotel in Punta Bonita, also with good food. For the October time you want to come you will have no trouble finding good lodging.
If you have your heart set on staying at a villa, send me an email at
dolores@dr1.com and I will give you the telephone of a friend who manages a villa in Portillo, Samana. You could also write to Boston doctor Rafael Ortega rents out his Cabrera house, although maybe this one would be outside your budget. But you can email him at
raortega@aol.com
Have another friend who has a house in Guayacanes/Juan Dolio right on the beach. But this does not come with a cook.
Basically, browse through our destinations list (see sidebar in the travel page index at
http://dr1.com/travel/index.shtml to choose the area in the Dominican Republic that matches what you are looking for.
If you choose Samana, you should go ahead and rent a small 4W vehicle. We recommend National Car Rental at
http://www.dr1.com/national
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Villas in DR
Larry....
