Santo Domingo

[QUOTE=OldKool;1395436]One of my favorite hotels. Comes with a great buffet breakfast and an awesome location. The pool is very small as is the workout room but both are adequate for me. The rooms have minei bars that do not gauge you. All and all a good value 80 bucks if you book it through Hotwire.[/QUOTE]Hotel Palacio might charge an extra fee for a guest if she visits the room after 9pm (if the single occupancy room rate was chosen). Hotel Palacio is German owned, nice hotel, good location, I stayed there more than 10 times. The last time I stayed there was a few years ago, when I was given a room with poor air conditioning.

Hotel Palacio will ask for the chica's cedula (Dominican Photo Identification Card) and will make a copy.

Hotel Napolitano on the Malecon has a pool and is close to zona colonial. I have been told it is guest friendly: [url]http://www.napolitanohotel.com/1.aspx[/url]. I have read something like that the Napolitano pool might be available to use for people not staying at the hotel, for a fee. Mint disco and a casino are in the Hotel Napolitano. Booking through Orbitz using a promo code, price is about $77US for a double occupancy room.

Hotel Villa Colonial on Calle Sanchez in zona colonial, about two blocks south of el conde: [url]http://www.villacolonial.net/[/url], is a pretty hotel inside, with a small in-ground swimming pool. It is almost like a ghost hotel, when I visited there was no sign outside saying it was a hotel and I didn't see any guests, price is around $60-$70US.

Hotel Maison Gautreaux is guest friendly, about a 15 minute walk to zona colonial, has an outside jacuzzi on the second or third floor, price is about $50US for a double occupancy room, [url]http://www.maisongautreaux.net/[/url].

I have been to Sd many times but had no clue how navigate the city. The map has given me confidence that I can go where need to go. I am staying near the Blue Mall which is off the beaten path but there are plenty of venue and things to do made clear by the map. Guys have put a lot of time and work to make it a useful tool. My hat is off to all the contributers. After taking 30 minutes studying the map I discovered everything I needed was right in front of me. Word to the wise use the tools.

OldKool,

If you end up renting a car and you own a Garming GPS, let me know so I can hook you up with the DR Map for the GPS.

[QUOTE=OldKool;1395477]I have been to Sd many times but had no clue how navigate the city. The map has given me confidence that I can go where need to go. I am staying near the Blue Mall which is off the beaten path but there are plenty of venue and things to do made clear by the map. Guys have put a lot of time and work to make it a useful tool. My hat is off to all the contributers. After taking 30 minutes studying the map I discovered everything I needed was right in front of me. Word to the wise use the tools.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=OldKool;1395436]One of my favorite hotels. Comes with a great buffet breakfast and an awesome location. The pool is very small as is the workout room but both are adequate for me. The rooms have minei bars that do not gauge you. All and all a good value 80 bucks if you book it through Hotwire.[/QUOTE]Thanks man.

I will check their website.

Sounds good.

I do not need a olympic pool. But I just want to have one if I am in mood to jump in and cool down from the dominican climate

[QUOTE=Jaosousa; 1395446]Hotel Palacio might charge an extra fee for a guest if she visits the room after 9pm (if the single occupancy room rate was chosen). Hotel Palacio is German owned, nice hotel, good location, I stayed there more than 10 times. The last time I stayed there was a few years ago, when I was given a room with poor air conditioning.

Hotel Palacio will ask for the chica's cedula (Dominican Photo Identification Card) and will make a copy.[/QUOTE]I stayed at the Palacio in December 2012 for 3 nights. It seems the A / C is working fine now. The buffet breakfast was very good, eggs done to order and lots of fresh fruit. The best part of staying there is the location, you are close to everything in the Zona Colonial and you are only a 150 to 200 peso cab ride anywhere else in the city. I always use Apollo Taxi which are radio dispatched, you can confirm the price for the taxi before it is dispatched, they always got there within 10 minutes. The tourist taxis outside the hotel are very persistant but will rarely come down from 300 pesos.

[QUOTE=Llttf;1395582]I stayed at the Palacio in December 2012 for 3 nights. It seems the A / C is working fine now. The buffet breakfast was very good, eggs done to order and lots of fresh fruit. The best part of staying there is the location, you are close to everything in the Zona Colonial and you are only a 150 to 200 peso cab ride anywhere else in the city. I always use Apollo Taxi which are radio dispatched, you can confirm the price for the taxi before it is dispatched, they always got there within 10 minutes. The tourist taxis outside the hotel are very persistant but will rarely come down from 300 pesos.[/QUOTE]Thanks. I stayed in at least 5 different rooms at the Palacio, one room had a very small type balcony over the main courtyard, that room cost over $120 per night. The last time I stayed at the Hotel Palacio I reserved online and paid online for two nights for a room that cost about $115US per night (Palacio has different room types with different prices). The room my last time staying there, was in the north part of the hotel, to the right when facing the front desk, up some narrow brick staircase (no elevators for that part of the hotel). The front desk woman had a bit of a snooty attitude when I complained about the A/C that evening. I checked out (forfeited what I had paid for that night) and drove over to the Hodelpa Hotel in zona colonial and stayed there one night for under $100. I sent an email to the German manager of the Hotel Palacio explaining what happened and he never responded. I had stayed at the Palacio more than 10 times prior and had previously chatted with the German manager and the German owner whose name is George.

At night the Palacio wants you to put your car in their enclosed parking garage. I put my car in their enclosed lot one afternoon, someone parked their car directly behind mine, I went to use my car that night but it was blocked by the other car, seems it was unknown whose car it was or it was late (maybe 10 or 11 at night) and maybe the workers didn't want to disturb the owner of the other car, I said no problem and didn't use the car that night. Many of the workers at the Palacio are very nice. All but one of the rooms I used had good air conditioning, I enjoyed staying there, my first time there I had about 6 women visit in a 12 hour period. Location is good. 200 feet from El Conde, three blocks from the park and the cathedral where hard rock cafe is located. A supermarket 200 feet from the Palacio, also a department store called California (has a small banco popular office, inside that store, with an ATM machine), across the street from California department store is a large hardware store, adjacent to the hardware store is a Claro call center (make international calls to back home for not a lot of money or buy a SIM card for about 160 pesos or Claro calling cards), hotel mercure on that block and around the corner is Onnos Bar, sporting goods store on the other block and about a block or less north of the entrance of the Palacio is a small pharmacy where Cialis, Viagra, LaPela and similar types can be purchased over the counter. Old time coffee shop around the corner from the Palacio. I currently have no plans to stay at the Hotel Palacio.

Joining the International Sex Guide and being able to send messages to other members can be very useful in obtaining information.

There are various custom google maps for different places in various countries and are a good resource, sometimes more information may be needed about a venues' location or other info, being able to send a message to another member will oftentimes clarify something.

[QUOTE=OldKool;1395477]I have been to Sd many times but had no clue how navigate the city. The map has given me confidence that I can go where need to go. I am staying near the Blue Mall which is off the beaten path but there are plenty of venue and things to do made clear by the map. Guys have put a lot of time and work to make it a useful tool. My hat is off to all the contributers. After taking 30 minutes studying the map I discovered everything I needed was right in front of me. Word to the wise use the tools.[/QUOTE]

Hi,

I recently got back from a short trip to Santo Domingo. My frist time there. Stayed at the Jaragua Hotel. It was a pretty good experience overall. Interesting. But I think that I overpaid for a lot of things, at least by SD and / or DR standards.

Went to the Satin Dolls casa my first night. Had read up on SD just a bit before going, but did not really know the exact way things were done at the various establishments. Was told that it would be $100 USD for two hours to take one of the girls out. That seemed pretty fair to me at the time, but from what I have now read on this board, I guess that in SD that is considered a lot? Is that right? Also, I happen to be one of those people who doesn't really like to haggle over pricing. If I think that quoted price is too high, I will tend to just pass on it. Am wondering now, however, if maybe haggling over pricing is common in the DR? Would it make sense for me to do it, or at least try it? I mean, one reason that I went to the DR in the first place is that I heard that the prices are right. When I was there just about two weeks ago, $100 USD got me about four-thousand DR pesos. I have read on this board that someone here ended up bargaining down a two-hour "take out" from Satin Dolls to about 2500 DR pesos. Is that about right?

Also, another small issue that I had with Satin Dolls was this. There was a guy there by the name of Julio who kind of explained to me the prices and the procedures of the place. He spoke pretty good English, which was a big help to me, as my Spanish is not so hot. He was the one who told me that I would need to pay $100 to the bartender for the two-hour "salida" fee, or whatever it's called. It seemed to me that he was a manager at the place, or maybe even the owner. Of course, now that I think of it, maybe he really wasn't working at the place at all, but was just "touting" it? In any case, after I paid the USD$100 fee to the bartender, Julio then asked me if I could help him out a bit. I said OK, because, to tell you the truth, he did help me out quite a bit, as it seemed that nobody else at Satin Dolls seemed to speak much English-so I gave him a bill for one-thousand DR pesos. He seemed pretty happy with that. And then after a heavenly two-hours, I tipped the girl two-thousand DR pesos. At the time-my first day in the DR-the DR money seemed kind of like Monopoly money to me, and it wasn't really registering how much I was spending. When I thought it over the next day, however, I realized that this sort of thing was going to blow my budget. So here is my question. If I go to Santo Domingo again, is it customary to tip some guy such as Julio? Or should I just tell him that I can take care of it myself? Or should I just ask him if that isn't already included in the $100 fee. Also, it is customary to tip the girls afterwards? I would guess so, but I don't know. What would more frequent visitors to Santo Domingo consider to be a fair / decent tip for the girl in this situation?

I don't want to be a cheap skate. I would like to be fair, etc. But one reason that I came to the DR in the first place is that I heard that I could search for chicas on a tight budget. The flight down on Jet Blue from New York cost $400, so I was already $400 in the hole when I got there. When I added these costs up, and when I added the room in the Jaguara, and then found out that that was not "chica friendly" and I had to pay out some more cash for a short-stay hotel near the Satin Dolls casa, etc, well, I ended up spending a lot more money than I had originally planned on. Since my return from SD, I have tried to read up on SD posts on this board from the past month or two. If I do go back to the DR and SD at some point, hopefully I will know more than I did on my first trip, and hopefully that will help me to have a better trip and stay within a fairly modes budget. If anybody happens to have any answers to my questions or just some good general info for a newbie at this, I would be happy to hear it.

[QUOTE=JustWonderin; 1395858]Hi,

I recently got back from a short trip to Santo Domingo. My frist time there. Stayed at the Jaragua Hotel. It was a pretty good experience overall. Interesting. But I think that I overpaid for a lot of things, at least by SD and / or DR standards.

Went to the Satin Dolls casa my first night. Had read up on SD just a bit before going, but did not really know the exact way things were done at the various establishments. Was told that it would be $100 USD for two hours to take one of the girls out. That seemed pretty fair to me at the time, but from what I have now read on this board, I guess that in SD that is considered a lot? Is that right? Also, I happen to be one of those people who doesn't really like to haggle over pricing. If I think that quoted price is too high, I will tend to just pass on it. Am wondering now, however, if maybe haggling over pricing is common in the DR? Would it make sense for me to do it, or at least try it? I mean, one reason that I went to the DR in the first place is that I heard that the prices are right. When I was there just about two weeks ago, $100 USD got me about four-thousand DR pesos. I have read on this board that someone here ended up bargaining down a two-hour "take out" from Satin Dolls to about 2500 DR pesos. Is that about right?

Also, another small issue that I had with Satin Dolls was this. There was a guy there by the name of Julio who kind of explained to me the prices and the procedures of the place. He spoke pretty good English, which was a big help to me, as my Spanish is not so hot. He was the one who told me that I would need to pay $100 to the bartender for the two-hour "salida" fee, or whatever it's called. It seemed to me that he was a manager at the place, or maybe even the owner. Of course, now that I think of it, maybe he really wasn't working at the place at all, but was just "touting" it? In any case, after I paid the USD$100 fee to the bartender, Julio then asked me if I could help him out a bit. I said OK, because, to tell you the truth, he did help me out quite a bit, as it seemed that nobody else at Satin Dolls seemed to speak much English-so I gave him a bill for one-thousand DR pesos. He seemed pretty happy with that. And then after a heavenly two-hours, I tipped the girl two-thousand DR pesos. At the time-my first day in the DR-the DR money seemed kind of like Monopoly money to me, and it wasn't really registering how much I was spending. When I thought it over the next day, however, I realized that this sort of thing was going to blow my budget. So here is my question. If I go to Santo Domingo again, is it customary to tip some guy such as Julio? Or should I just tell him that I can take care of it myself? Or should I just ask him if that isn't already included in the $100 fee. Also, it is customary to tip the girls afterwards? I would guess so, but I don't know. What would more frequent visitors to Santo Domingo consider to be a fair / decent tip for the girl in this situation?

I don't want to be a cheap skate. I would like to be fair, etc. But one reason that I came to the DR in the first place is that I heard that I could search for chicas on a tight budget. The flight down on Jet Blue from New York cost $400, so I was already $400 in the hole when I got there. When I added these costs up, and when I added the room in the Jaguara, and then found out that that was not "chica friendly" and I had to pay out some more cash for a short-stay hotel near the Satin Dolls casa, etc, well, I ended up spending a lot more money than I had originally planned on. Since my return from SD, I have tried to read up on SD posts on this board from the past month or two. If I do go back to the DR and SD at some point, hopefully I will know more than I did on my first trip, and hopefully that will help me to have a better trip and stay within a fairly modes budget. If anybody happens to have any answers to my questions or just some good general info for a newbie at this, I would be happy to hear it.[/QUOTE]You tried to play Santo Domingo and Santo Domingo played you. It happened to me my first few trips also so don't feel bad. Stiick to Sosua playa. SD is for guys who understand. Can't say much more. You are not there yet.

2500 pesos is the price sometimes paid at Satin Dolls. Julio is the big heavy set guy who sits outside? Owner of Satin Dolls is Dominicana, very sexy, with a big new tattoo on her back, she doesn't live in the DR, some of her family members run Satin Dolls. The other three casas on Avenida Pasteur are Cuban owned. Blond bartender in Satin Dolls I have known for years, same for the big heavy set guy who sits outside (he works there). The Dominicana owner was always very nice to me, she does visit and is sometimes in Satin Dolls. Intercontinental Hotel is down the block, also the new Hotel Shakey and an apartment building. In the past I stayed at that apartment building and would walk up Ave. Pasteur three or four times per day and I got to know many of the folks on that block. Sometimes I would walk to the small colmado up the block for milk and orange juice and I would stop in at Sky House (old Satin Dolls) on my way back and order a beer and chat with some of the chicas and the workers. You don't have to tip anyone, whatever tip you may choose to give is usually greatly appreciated and will get you a hug or a hug and a kiss (for a female recipient).

I can offer a few tips about tips. Before a trip to DR, I will go the bank in the states and get one dollar bills, you can use the dollar bills to tip some people in the DR (workers at a hotel who bring your luggage to your room, women who may strip and grind you in a p4p venue). Satin Dolls is half a block from the Intercontinental V Centanario Hotel and Casino (large nice hotel). You can walk into the casino and go to the cashiers window and ask for change of a large bill (break a 1000 peso note into 100 and 50 peso notes). ATM machines in the casino and in the hotel's lobby. I also sometimes buy online, t-shirts at aeropostale for around $5US and bring some to the DR and give them as a tip to some workers in a hotel or some other Dominicanas (join aeropostale and they will send emails when they have various sales and promotions, sale clearance section usually has t-shirts for around $5US).

I have taken one pro out of Satin Dolls, a Dominicana I have known for years, and I paid 2500. I paid $100US next door at Sky High and after that unfulfilling experience I never returned to Sky High. The Cuban who runs Sky High and Girls House is a bit aloof and not very friendly and seems he could give a shit about customer service (I generally stay of out Sky High and Girls House). Venezia down the block is also Cuban owned, I only visited one time. 305 around the corner from Satin Dolls is Cuban owned and the owner is a good guy, speaks English, I have taken two Dominicanas out of 305 at 4am and both stayed till the next day early afternoon, no complaints (my valuables were out, nothing went missing). Paid 2500 and about 3800 at 305.

There are different ways to look at pricing. High prices sometimes keeps the miles off some women. There are Wall Street guys who may earn a billion dollars in a year. There are escorts in the US who may get paid over $20,000US for 24 hours. Prostitution is illegal in most of the US and if a guy gets busted during a sting operation it will cost him in time and money. I can take someone to a place where he can get a blowjob in the DR for 100 or 200 pesos on the side of a highway in the bushes. I saw in the news recently, where a former Olympic track athlete was working as an escort in Las Vegas, charging $600 per hour, she is blonde and thin (I would have no interest in paying her, I wouldn't flame anyone who gets turned on by her and paid her price).

There are p4p venues in Santo Domingo with prices starting at 1000 pesos.

Aeropostale t-shirts bought online for about $5US come enclosed in plastic with an Aeropostale price tag (tag says $24.50, I paid about $5US).

[QUOTE=JustWonderin; 1395858]Hi,

I recently got back from a short trip to Santo Domingo. My frist time there. Stayed at the Jaragua Hotel. It was a pretty good experience overall. Interesting. But I think that I overpaid for a lot of things, at least by SD and / or DR standards.

Went to the Satin Dolls casa my first night. Had read up on SD just a bit before going, but did not really know the exact way things were done at the various establishments. Was told that it would be $100 USD for two hours to take one of the girls out. That seemed pretty fair to me at the time, but from what I have now read on this board, I guess that in SD that is considered a lot? Is that right? Also, I happen to be one of those people who doesn't really like to haggle over pricing. If I think that quoted price is too high, I will tend to just pass on it. Am wondering now, however, if maybe haggling over pricing is common in the DR? Would it make sense for me to do it, or at least try it? I mean, one reason that I went to the DR in the first place is that I heard that the prices are right. When I was there just about two weeks ago, $100 USD got me about four-thousand DR pesos. I have read on this board that someone here ended up bargaining down a two-hour "take out" from Satin Dolls to about 2500 DR pesos. Is that about right?

Also, another small issue that I had with Satin Dolls was this. There was a guy there by the name of Julio who kind of explained to me the prices and the procedures of the place. He spoke pretty good English, which was a big help to me, as my Spanish is not so hot. He was the one who told me that I would need to pay $100 to the bartender for the two-hour "salida" fee, or whatever it's called. It seemed to me that he was a manager at the place, or maybe even the owner. Of course, now that I think of it, maybe he really wasn't working at the place at all, but was just "touting" it? In any case, after I paid the USD$100 fee to the bartender, Julio then asked me if I could help him out a bit. I said OK, because, to tell you the truth, he did help me out quite a bit, as it seemed that nobody else at Satin Dolls seemed to speak much English-so I gave him a bill for one-thousand DR pesos. He seemed pretty happy with that. And then after a heavenly two-hours, I tipped the girl two-thousand DR pesos. At the time-my first day in the DR-the DR money seemed kind of like Monopoly money to me, and it wasn't really registering how much I was spending. When I thought it over the next day, however, I realized that this sort of thing was going to blow my budget. So here is my question. If I go to Santo Domingo again, is it customary to tip some guy such as Julio? Or should I just tell him that I can take care of it myself? Or should I just ask him if that isn't already included in the $100 fee. Also, it is customary to tip the girls afterwards? I would guess so, but I don't know. What would more frequent visitors to Santo Domingo consider to be a fair / decent tip for the girl in this situation?

I don't want to be a cheap skate. I would like to be fair, etc. But one reason that I came to the DR in the first place is that I heard that I could search for chicas on a tight budget. The flight down on Jet Blue from New York cost $400, so I was already $400 in the hole when I got there. When I added these costs up, and when I added the room in the Jaguara, and then found out that that was not "chica friendly" and I had to pay out some more cash for a short-stay hotel near the Satin Dolls casa, etc, well, I ended up spending a lot more money than I had originally planned on. Since my return from SD, I have tried to read up on SD posts on this board from the past month or two. If I do go back to the DR and SD at some point, hopefully I will know more than I did on my first trip, and hopefully that will help me to have a better trip and stay within a fairly modes budget. If anybody happens to have any answers to my questions or just some good general info for a newbie at this, I would be happy to hear it.[/QUOTE]

The best time to learn is before you do something. First read some more reports on this site. Many are very entertaining and amusing. Jaraqua is not a chica friendly hotel. You can check in with a girl but you can not have multiple women in your room. Second you did over pay and everything in the DR is negotiable. You tipped a guy 25 bucks for doing his job and the chica 50 for doing what you paid for. We all make mistakes and have to learn. As Jao explained tipping is not mandatory. 500 pesos to a chica if she did a great job is fine. Try to avoid guys trying get women for you. In the DR that is like paying someone to you find sand at the beach. There other options in the DR for chica chasing. Sosua is a play ground for puta hunting. My only suggestion do a little research before jump into the pool.

[QUOTE=JustWonderin; 1395858]Hi,

I recently got back from a short trip to Santo Domingo. My frist time there. Stayed at the Jaragua Hotel. It was a pretty good experience overall. Interesting. But I think that I overpaid for a lot of things, at least by SD and / or DR standards.

Went to the Satin Dolls casa my first night. Had read up on SD just a bit before going, but did not really know the exact way things were done at the various establishments. Was told that it would be $100 USD for two hours to take one of the girls out. That seemed pretty fair to me at the time, but from what I have now read on this board, I guess that in SD that is considered a lot? Is that right? Also, I happen to be one of those people who doesn't really like to haggle over pricing. If I think that quoted price is too high, I will tend to just pass on it. Am wondering now, however, if maybe haggling over pricing is common in the DR? Would it make sense for me to do it, or at least try it? I mean, one reason that I went to the DR in the first place is that I heard that the prices are right. When I was there just about two weeks ago, $100 USD got me about four-thousand DR pesos. I have read on this board that someone here ended up bargaining down a two-hour "take out" from Satin Dolls to about 2500 DR pesos. Is that about right?

Also, another small issue that I had with Satin Dolls was this. There was a guy there by the name of Julio who kind of explained to me the prices and the procedures of the place. He spoke pretty good English, which was a big help to me, as my Spanish is not so hot. He was the one who told me that I would need to pay $100 to the bartender for the two-hour "salida" fee, or whatever it's called. It seemed to me that he was a manager at the place, or maybe even the owner. Of course, now that I think of it, maybe he really wasn't working at the place at all, but was just "touting" it? In any case, after I paid the USD$100 fee to the bartender, Julio then asked me if I could help him out a bit. I said OK, because, to tell you the truth, he did help me out quite a bit, as it seemed that nobody else at Satin Dolls seemed to speak much English-so I gave him a bill for one-thousand DR pesos. He seemed pretty happy with that. And then after a heavenly two-hours, I tipped the girl two-thousand DR pesos. At the time-my first day in the DR-the DR money seemed kind of like Monopoly money to me, and it wasn't really registering how much I was spending. When I thought it over the next day, however, I realized that this sort of thing was going to blow my budget. So here is my question. If I go to Santo Domingo again, is it customary to tip some guy such as Julio? Or should I just tell him that I can take care of it myself? Or should I just ask him if that isn't already included in the $100 fee. Also, it is customary to tip the girls afterwards? I would guess so, but I don't know. What would more frequent visitors to Santo Domingo consider to be a fair / decent tip for the girl in this situation?

I don't want to be a cheap skate. I would like to be fair, etc. But one reason that I came to the DR in the first place is that I heard that I could search for chicas on a tight budget. The flight down on Jet Blue from New York cost $400, so I was already $400 in the hole when I got there. When I added these costs up, and when I added the room in the Jaguara, and then found out that that was not "chica friendly" and I had to pay out some more cash for a short-stay hotel near the Satin Dolls casa, etc, well, I ended up spending a lot more money than I had originally planned on. Since my return from SD, I have tried to read up on SD posts on this board from the past month or two. If I do go back to the DR and SD at some point, hopefully I will know more than I did on my first trip, and hopefully that will help me to have a better trip and stay within a fairly modes budget. If anybody happens to have any answers to my questions or just some good general info for a newbie at this, I would be happy to hear it.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=OldKool;1396010]The best time to learn is before you do something. First read some more reports on this site. Many are very entertaining and amusing. Jaraqua is not a chica friendly hotel. You can check in with a girl but you can not have multiple women in your room. Second you did over pay and everything in the DR is negotiable. You tipped a guy 25 bucks for doing his job and the chica 50 for doing what you paid for. We all make mistakes and have to learn. As Jao explained tipping is not mandatory. 500 pesos to a chica if she did a great job is fine. Try to avoid guys trying get women for you. In the DR that is like paying someone to you find sand at the beach. There other options in the DR for chica chasing. Sosua is a play ground for puta hunting. My only suggestion do a little research before jump into the pool.[/QUOTE]To OldKool-

Thanks so much for the info and advice. I agree with you. I am trying to go through some of those back posts to learn a bit more about the DR, Santo Domingo, etc. From your reply and the other reply that I received to my earlier post, I am guessing that this website must have quite a bit of traffic. If you don't mind, I would like to bring up another issue that I encountered on my trip to SD.

Before I headed to SD a couple weeks ago, I did read some posts on this board and / or others like it. One thing that seemed to be mentioned repeatedly was that for a newcomer to the DR and / or Santo Domingo, things could be a bit tricky, maybe a bit difficult, and I saw a number of warnings about personal safety and keeping valuables and personal property safe. Even though there seemed to be a lot of positive stuff in the posts, there seemed to be a fair number of warnings as well. Well, I decided to go anyway, and I decided to start with a casa like Satin Dolls because I had read that that was basically the "easiest" way for a newcomer / newbie / what have you. Anyway, my main interest in going to SD was in fact to look for these chicas that I had heard so much about. And I was not disappointed with the ones that I found, even if I realized belatedly that I may have overpaid and broken my budget.

However, besides just chasing chicas, I suppose that I would also be interested in learning a little bit about the venues of and the culture of SD and the DR in general. When I decided to go for a walk along the seaside, however, just outside my hotel, I was accosted by a fair number of guys who wanted to either shine my shoes or serve as guides of some sort or what have you. Well, I don't mind guys trying to earn a living, and I realize that the economy in the DR might not be the greatest, and normally when people are trying to make a living by shining your shoes, they are probably kind of desparate, and I wouldn't mind in the least if they just asked me outright if they could shine my shoes, and I would say yes, and I would pay them a fair price. But the guys that I came across started walking along side me, telling me that they were providing "security" for me, and basically not taking no for an answer. And then after a few minutes of this, they would bust out their shoeshine kit and start polishing away furiously at my shoes. It was like I had been caught / trapped / what have you. I thought it was ridiculous and outrageous. And then when I offered to pay them afterwards-maybe 100 pesos or so-they seemed insulted and complained loudly that that was not enough, etc. At first I gave the first guy more money, but not the second or third guy. I had my shoes shined three times in just two days. If someone just came up to me and said "Can I please shine your shoes for 100 pesos," I would say yes. But when they talk about providing "security," it felt to me as though they were trying to shake me down, and I didn't like it at all. Well, due to my experiences walking outside of my hotel, in the Malecon area, I decided that I would more or less just stay on the grounds of the hotel, or, if I had to go somewhere outside I would just take a taxi rather than walk. I suppose that is one way around it, but to tell you the truth, I didn't like that so much. Bascially my question is this: is this sort of thing something that basically happens more or less only in the Malecon area, or is this what would happen to me if I went walking on my own in other areas of Santo Domingo? And if it does happen in other areas of SD and the DR, what is the best way to avoid that sort of thing, if possible. Does one need to be accompanied by a native "guide" to prevent this sort of thing? Or is it just inevitable?

To JaoSousa,

Hey, thanks so much for that info! I do like that idea about bringing US one-dollar bills for tips.

Thanks again.

What you experienced was just newbie mistakes. We all make them throughout out our lifetimes, so no big deal. In my trips to SD, I have visited all of the Ave Pasteur casas, and I have never tipped anyone besides the bartender if my Santo Libre is on point. I have conversed with some of the dudes hanging out front while I smoked a Cigar, but they have never given me any information that I didn't already know, so no tip for them. I'm a good tipper. I tip my maid at my hotel, waiters / waitresses, bartenders, and my new SD barber.

SD is not as hard as people believe. You have to find your niche per say. Some people love the club scene, which is not my thing. There are plenty of night club options, just check the map below. Some people like the lounge, sports bar or pool hall scene (like me). Some are into the street walkers or casas. Others are into the thrill and chase of bedding a "normal" chica. With time you will find what you like, and SD will be a very fun city for you. The hardest part for some is the language, and transportation around the city. Apollo Taxi is recommended by some mongers as a good cheap transportation source. Others, like myself, utilize a driver. I pay my driver an agreed upon rate to take me wherever I want to go for the day.

From what I have read Sosua might be an easier option, but I busted my cherry in SD, and so far I haven't wanted or needed to go to Sosua. Read the Sosua forum, and decide for yourself if that might be a place you want to visit. From Atlanta it's cheaper to fly into SD, but you made up almost half of the difference in price with your tips alone. LOL RTTF, and take it all in from the vets. I learn something from all of these guys, good or bad. A link to the SD map is below.

[url]https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=18.480627,-69.965143&spn=0.009891,0.019248&z=16&msid=106767774275556555984.00046d685b11334063b43&mid=1246199584[/url]

[QUOTE=JustWonderin; 1395858]Hi,

I recently got back from a short trip to Santo Domingo. My frist time there. Stayed at the Jaragua Hotel. It was a pretty good experience overall. Interesting. But I think that I overpaid for a lot of things, at least by SD and / or DR standards.

Went to the Satin Dolls casa my first night. Had read up on SD just a bit before going, but did not really know the exact way things were done at the various establishments. Was told that it would be $100 USD for two hours to take one of the girls out. That seemed pretty fair to me at the time, but from what I have now read on this board, I guess that in SD that is considered a lot? Is that right? Also, I happen to be one of those people who doesn't really like to haggle over pricing. If I think that quoted price is too high, I will tend to just pass on it. Am wondering now, however, if maybe haggling over pricing is common in the DR? Would it make sense for me to do it, or at least try it? I mean, one reason that I went to the DR in the first place is that I heard that the prices are right. When I was there just about two weeks ago, $100 USD got me about four-thousand DR pesos. I have read on this board that someone here ended up bargaining down a two-hour "take out" from Satin Dolls to about 2500 DR pesos. Is that about right.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=RocheBrazi; 1395360]Hey guys!

Anyone can recommend a Hotel with a pool in Santo Domingo that is chica friendly.

I am not looking for a 5 Star hotel and also not for a Dirthole. Should be not so expensive and near zona colonial.

And a other question. I only had action with girls in Hotels in east europe so far and everytime the hotels I booked was 2Star Hotels just to sleep. They did not had any security or Hotel Staff at night who could care about my actions. So I always was fine booking the cheapest room for 1 Person. No one bothered.

When I book one in the DR is it enough to book for a single person to get chicas in over night?[/QUOTE]I've been considering Hotel / Casino Napolatino, pool, chica friendly. $70 / night.