Sunfinder Vacations

Attracting guests from Europe and North America, this resort near Santo Domingo ensures comfort with a wide range of choices at two buffet restaurants, two à la carte restaurants (one is not part of the All-Inclusive plan), and activities such as volleyball, aerobics, and dance lessons that appeal across national boundaries.

The Barcelo Talanquera Beach Resort features stone walls, flagstone paths, unfinished-wood bridges, naturalistic gardens, waterfalls, fountains, and ponds, including one populated by flamingos. This tranquil ambience draws families and couples from all over the world to this resort near Santo Domingo for relaxation and group activities.

Close enough to Santo Domingo for shopping excursions, the Costa Caribe Coral Resort has an urban feel, exemplified by the casino and disco, both open until 4 AM. The casino glitters under a partly mirrored ceiling and contains 56 slot machines, eight blackjack tables, two Caribbean poker tables, four roulette wheels, a craps table, and a poker table. The resort's large disco, Skape, offers a raised dance floor and banquette seating.

European and North American guests come to the Oasis Hamaca Resort for sun, sea, and after-dark action at a large casino, open until early morning. The hotel's casino contains 70 slot machines, five blackjack tables, five Caribbean poker tables, four roulette wheels, a craps table, a poker table, and keno.

The entrance into the Melia Santo Domingo Hotel & Casino includes fountain ponds. A two-story marble lobby contains rose-marble columns, a huge chandelier of lighted tubes, potted palms and plants, a waterfall wall at one end, and a pond at the other. Popular with business travelers, the hotel also attracts leisure travelers seeking walking-distance access to Santo Domingo's historical Colonial Zone and after-dark gaming action in the hotel's casino.

Built in 1942 by dictator Raphael Trujillo for the Dominican elite in Santo Domingo, this was the first luxury hotel in the Dominican Republic. The Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino is still the place for Dominicans to stage weddings and other social events, even as it now caters to international business travelers, vacationers, and after-dark revelers.