Occidental El Embajador

I stayed over 2 weeks in the hotel while I was traveling to Santo Domingo for business. A week after my arrival I found out they were hosting a national event called ""Dominicana Moda"". The event was held in the hotel for the whole week. The lobby was crowded all the time and the parking was impossible. I felt like they did not care about me and all the other guests because they took away from us all the common areas like the lobby and the pool area. The pool was closed from Monday to Sunday for the event. However I think that's something we are also paying for and we as guests are entitled to use it. Unfortunately, I did not get anything as compensation for the inconvenience. My room was facing the pool so I heard all the noise every night until 1 a.m. They played house and electro music which I also like, but considering I had to get up at 6 am every day to go to work.. I don't think it was a good idea. I complained so many times and the staff did nothing. I kept asking to give me a room on the other side of the hotel but they kept saying the hotel was full. Although, I saw so many people leaving the hotel every day. In addition to that, the fitness room is terrible. There's almost nothing and the few machines are old and rusted. So if you like to work out you either go to another hotel or join a gym. The closest one is the Gold's Body which is 15 minutes walk from the hotel on Ave. Los Locutores and Churchill. They should not even advertise they have fitness facilities.

This hotel is a landmark in D.R. , it's been there for about 50 years...which seems like the last time they changed the rug. The smell of cigar and cigarette smoke is the first thing you notice when you walk in the lobby. They do not have separate smoking areas, not even in the restaurants. I had a horrible expierence with the laundry service. I sent a dress to press and it was returned damaged. After speaking to 3 different people, someone from laundry took the dress again to attempt to fix the mistake. The following day, the manager of laundry personally brought the dress to the room and then proceeded to tell me that the dress was given to them damaged and it was my fault. He did not take any blame and insulted me by suggesting that I brought a damaged dress to wear to a wedding.

The hotel is very impressive with courteous staff. The double room left something to be desired with very small beds (hardly fit two people in one bed). The carpet could have used more thorough cleaning. Dining staff were top notch. Very nice pool and well kept grounds. High taxes added to the total cost of stay.