HEADLINE: WHOA! AND I MEAN WHOA / OVERALL RATING: 🍷🍷🍷🍷.8 (4.8 OUT OF 5)
SUMMARY:
Like Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous WHOAAAAA. This place is one of the nicest places I’ve stayed at on the whole island. It is exactly the kind of place you’d dream up for an island vacation. In the evening, Husband and I walked out there with a bottle of wine and sat in the lounge chairs to have some quiet, alone time. No one gave us a hard time for bringing our own vino. Our experience was magical.
PRICE:
From $250-$450/night (depending on season) – minimum 2 night stay
PET FRIENDLY:
It says to ask, though I will mention that we have the two smallest, quietest poodles and the owner “preferred” we not bring them.
ABOUT GROUNDS: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 (5 OUT OF 5)
Club Hemingway is a luxury condo community, each condo privately owned so others might have a different experience based on where they rented and the owner they rented from. The grounds were beautifully landscaped and the restaurant on the pier adds to the whole amazing-island-getaway thing. I should add that we didn’t even take advantage of all the awesomeness available like, oh I don’t know, the tennis courts, paddle courts, game room, all 3 swimming pools, the Club House, etc. (To read more, visit here.)
LAYOUT: 🍷🍷🍷🍷.5 (4.5 OUT OF 5)
3BR / 2Bath / Sleeps 8 / 1st floor
The living room/dining room/patio is amazeballs. Super comfortable and cozy and makes you feel at home as soon as you sit down. the main bedroom room bright and a good size with its own bathroom. If I’m nitpicking, I’ say that this isn’t a true 3 bedroom since one of the bedrooms was converted into 2 bedrooms by a split wall. It was fine but very tight. This two bedroom / bathroom / TV area was blocked off with a door which was very convenient when traveling with babies or small kids that have nap times and earlier bedtimes. Outside the bedrooms was a small TV/reading area that worked out well for us since we were staying with my in-laws. They had the main room, we put one of our kids in the bunk room and the other in the small TV area and we slept in the other bedroom.
Though one might like a condo higher up (buildings do have elevators) I actually enjoyed being on the ground floor. It was great for Husband’s mom, who isn’t handicapped but has some medical issues, and for people with kids. We loved having breakfast on our ground floor patio every morning and the kids loved people watching and saying hi to the staff.
LOCATION: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 (5 OUT OF 5)
Club Hemingway is in a perfect location. Beachfront aside, the surrounding area includes a small grocery store, Guilia’s – a yummy breakfast spot, Pekara – a coffee shop/bakery around the corner, Paladart – an Argentinian restaurant, a ton of colmados, and a bunch other drinking and dining options – all walkable. This beach area has become my favorite of all the spots within an hour of Santo Domingo. (The coffee shop Pekara has since moved to the main highway but well worth a visit.)
SERVICE: 🍷🍷🍷🍷.5 (4.5 OUT OF 5)
(+) I’ll sum up working with Enrique, the owner of the condo with one quick story. Our car was packed – 4 adults, 2 kids, 2 pack-and-plays, all of our bags – PACKED. Husband opened his email, probably to check the map when he discovered he had reserved our stay for the wrong dates. Our reservation was for the week before. We had completely missed our reservation! I was pulling out the rope from my bag in which to hang Husband when he got off the phone with Enrique who was totally amazing and understanding and allowed us to still come… at no extra charge. Most of the rest of the staff at Hemingway’s was delightful and helpful.
(-) Guests had to be signed in which is typical in many places in Juan Dolio. However, as one of our friends was getting his family’s guest passes, his wife needed to give their son his asthma treatment. The security guard told us she could not enter until we had the pass in hand, even after telling him that this was for medical reasons and that her husband was coming with the passes. I even suggested that I would stay with him until her husband returned so that she could attend to her son and he still wouldn’t budge. I understand doing a job but being this rigid under these circumstances was just annoying and seemed like an abuse of power. Overall, it was a very small glitch in an otherwise outstanding experience.
RESPONSE TIME: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 (5 OUT OF 5)
Husband set up this reservation but I did contact Enrique for another possible reservation. The reservation itself did not work out since it was a minimum 2-night stay and I only needed it for one night but his response was quick allowing me to continue on my search without wasting my time.
OVERALL RATING: 🍷🍷🍷🍷.8 (4.8 OUT OF 5)
Overall this place was a ridiculous experience, one of the best I’ve had on this island. In this case, the saying you get what you pay for is true.
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To contact Enrique about this rental, click here.