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Hi expats,

I just returned from a trip that brought me to fly out of / return to Santo Domingo Las Americas airport. My outbound flight left early (6:30 am) and my return flight arrived rather late (8:00 pm). Since I'm from the North Coast, I had to stay in the Santo Domingo area one day before my flight and then one more night when I returned.

I found hotels that are quite convenient for these purposes. I thought of sharing this here:

EARLY DEPARTING FLIGHT:

You want to stay in Boca Chica since this is much closer to the airport than Santo Domingo. I took the Sosua - Santo Domingo Metro bus line for 390 RD$. The Metro bus terminal in Santo Domingo is on Avenida Winston Churchill almost at the crossing of Calle 27 de Febrero. In the bus I found another passenger also going to Boca Chica so we shared the cab ride (650 RD $ each instead of 1 300 RD$ alone).

In Boca Chica I stayed at Hotel Angel Gabriel. Can be booked for cheap (about 50 US$) on Expedia or Hotels.com. Has air conditioning, cable TV, pool, hot water and breakfast for a small extra charge. Not lavish but clean and safe. The owner, Anita, was quite helpful and arranged a cab ride for 4:00 AM. My cab showed up on time and from the hotel it took me 10 minutes to reach the airport.

If you're staying at Hotel Angel Gabriel, DON'T rely on maps you see on the web, they have it way wrong. The hotel's entrance is in the private parking lot in front of Neptuno's Club on Calle Duarte. This is just next to the large Be Live Hamaca Resort, so very close to the beach and main street with all the restaurants.

STAYING IN SANTO DOMINGO AFTER A LATE FLIGHT:

Now if you have to use a bus to reach your home after a late-arriving flight you may want to first sleep in Santo Domingo and catch your bus the next day, in order to avoid arriving home in the middle of the night. Since I was going with Metro I wanted to stay at walking distance to the Metro bus terminal so I could avoid a cab ride. The best hotel I found near the terminal is Weston Suites on Calle 27 de Febrero, between Avenida Winston Churchill and Lincoln. Excellent hotel with air conditioning, free breakfast, hot water free wi-fi, great service, safe area. Price around 80 US$ for a large room with a kitchenette. The next morning I walked 10 minutes and I was at the bus station.

Very comfy ride with Metro. From Santo Domingo to Sosua it takes 4 hours with stops in Santiago and Puerto Plata.