Calypso Hotel - Boca Chica, Dominican Republic

By Jim Hinsch (JimHinsch@CSI.COM), 11/20/98

Boca Chica has 3 large hotels (Hamaca, Don Juan, and Boca Chica Resort), all of which are all-inclusive resorts. After that, one has the choice of a variety of small hotels, a few of which have pools and air-conditioning. The Calypso Hotel is one of these small hotels with a reputation of being one of the better. My experience was borderline acceptable.

The hotel is a visually appealing 3 story building located about 3 blocks from the beach and with mixed views overlooking a combination of nice buildings and trashy lots. The hotel building itself appears to be in decent condition. We paid $45 per night including breakfast or $40 per night without breakfast. Security was excellent. Keys were attached to giant blocks of wood making it impractical to carry out with you at night, so I left mine at the front desk. Employees were friendly and courteous.

The Room.

The room was on the large size of a standard hotel room. The bed was comfortable and queen sized. It had a tiled floor and was generally clean. Nearly everything in the room was in a state of disrepair. The TV worked but had no channels. There was a ceiling fan with light but they did not work either. The only light in the room that worked was the one on the bedside nightstand. The room had a phone and it worked. The air conditioner, a window style unit mounted in the wall, worked good but could only be turned on for 20 minutes at a time because of a timer, but the timer was broken so I was able to keep it on all the time.

The Bathroom.

The bathroom light fixture was missing the cover and the connecting wires were broken so there was no bathroom light either. The bathroom drop-cieiling was filthy with some type of black fungus covering most of it. The showerhead was clogged and put out a weak annoying pattern, with water eminating only along one side of the head. I was unable to adjust it or clean it. The bathroom towels were adequate and they provided soap and shampoo. Bathroom fixtures were good.

Breakfast.

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice from concentrate, coffee, a gray colored bacon, a sausage that resembled a slice of a red hotdog, a slice of ham, a slice of cheese.

The breakfast dining room consisted of 4 tables. I never saw anybody else eating there. Service was good, as we were the only customers.

Pool.

The pool was too filthy to use. It was so cloudy you could not make out the emblem on the bottom and the surface was covered with dead bugs and lizards. There were a number of plastic chairs around the pool. The only thing the pool was good for was to look at from a distance at night.

Summary.

Relative to some of the other small hotels in the area, the Calypso rates middle of the road. I think it would be acceptable when used as an outpost (a place to shower and sleep), but I would not want to spend any length of time there. Other small hotels in the area offer similar quality at lower prices. Also, with some attention to details, some minor room repairs, the cleaning of the pool, and the introduction of natural juices, fresh fruit, etc. to the breakfast, this hotel has the potential to be the best small hotel in town.

JimHinsch

JimHinsch@CSI.COM