Last year I visited the Dominican Republic for the first time. We stayed at the Oasis Canoa in Bayahibe and loved it so much we joined the vacation club. During last years stay we heard a lot about the Oasis Hamaca in Boca Chica so we booked 8 days there for this year. We arrived early and since check in isnt till 3pm we were allowed to place our bags in a secure room and use any/all of the hotel ammenities. When we did get our room we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we were in a Jr. Suite with an ocean view. Yes, as some of the negative reviews mentioned, the furniture is a little dated and there is construction going on near the ocean view rooms (they are adding a complete new wing) but I did not find this a nuisance in the least. Our room was right next to where they are building the new wing and although we did hear the hum of construction when we walked through the hall, we did not hear a sound once in our room. I will say that if you desire a completely quiet room you're better off staying in the garden view rooms. That part of the hotel is much quieter. The ocean view rooms are subject to the noise of the beach activity and music. However, the beach is very quiet after 9 or 10 at night and we loved having the view. The hotel grounds are kept immaculate. The pools do get some debris because of the grass hut type roofs on the restuarants and bars closeby, but there is always a worker coming by to clean them out. Each room is given 2 large bottles of water, 2 cokes and 2 beers each day free of charge. There are candy, chips and other bottled waters in the mini bar and these are pricey. This is explained upon check in and you are provided a price list. If you dont want to pay the high prices you can always walk down the street where you will find a supermarket which carries all these things and more much all at a cheaper price. The beach is strictly for hotel guests but right next to the hotel beach, seperated by a 2 foot parapet is the local beach. Some hotel guests believed it wasnt safe to cross over to this side but I was there alone with my 11 year old daughter and we walked over to shop in the stores at least 4 or 5 times in the 8 days and never had a problem. 3 of those times were at night and the local people were so friendly and helpful. The buffet has a large variety of food. Rigoletto, El Fagon, and Santa Fe all have delicious food with a nice atmosphere. And the Dominican people are some of the nicest, most helpful people I've met. We had no problem with anything missing from our room, walked around everywhere feeling safe and had an all around wonderful experience. We even spent a day at the spa having massages, manicures and pedicures. It was awesome! What I learned this visit is this - if you are looking for a resort that is quiet and away from everything then the Oasis Canoa in Bayahibe is the better choice. However, if you want to see true Dominican life and mingle with the locals then Oasis Hamaca is a terrific choice. Being only 20 minutes from Santo Domingo you have easy access to so much. Santo Domingo is amazingly beautiful. I absolutely loved touring this city. We got to know a lot of people, visiited with the locals, enjoyed the beauty of the resort and truly had the best of both worlds. The bottom line is ...... if you want top of the line, 5 star treatment then you should pay $3,500 or $4,000 for a weeks stay. If you are booking a $1,500 - $2,000 trip you cant beat the Oasis Hamaca. My daughter and I plan on seeing other areas of the Dominican Republic and other places throughout the world but we have every intention of going back to Boca Chica and staying at the Oasis Hamaca!!

There is no way I would ever go back to this hotel! We went there for my birthday, and I am so sorry I went! Let’s start with the check in. It took over 45 mins. to check in and there were only one couple in front of us. The check-in clerks spoke no English, so it was another 20 minutes or so before we got our keys. Once we got to the room, we were stunned to find MOSQUITOES all over the room! We called them to come spray and the hotel staff claims that mosquitoes got in the room because the bathroom window was open. By the way, don't waste your time waiting for them to hurry in order to address your concerns. There is no such thing at that hotel! The mattresses were worn out, the pillows were lumpy, the towels were no longer “white”. Every day we had to call and ask them for fresh towels, bath mat and washcloths. The shower head was squirting water all over the place because it was so old and full of grime! Now let’s get to the room keys that don’t work! We stayed for 7days, and during those seven days, we were issued 5 room keys! You’d get to the room and your key wouldn’t work. Since our room was not in the main building, we had to walk from the “garden” rooms, back to the front desk to be issued new keys. They never had an explanation why the keys didn’t work. If you're thinking about getting a massage, don't waste your money. The spa staff sucked - at least the one we had! The massages range from $60-$80 for 50mins. The deep tissue massage was simply a waste of money. They spoke no English but they knew the word “tip” very well! There are 4 restaurants there, and our favorite was the pasta restaurant. It was the only place besides the Dominican restaurant where you could eat without swatting away flies while you ate! I mean there were flies everywhere! Did I fail to mention the stray cat roaming the restaurant all day???!!! How sanitary is that??? We went to guest services to voice our concerns and the BEST he could do was “write it in his report” in a notebook. The only good thing about the place is its proximity to the beach. The water is beautiful and the pool bar will serve you alcohol until you pass out in a drunken stupor. If you love beer and alcohol, maybe none of these issues would matter to you :-) Some crook got us to sign-up for a horseback riding trip. Oh my goodness, what a nightmare! It was just the two of us in the country side with the tour guide who only spoke limited English. We saw nothing spectacular. We were in the middle of nowhere, with only trees and uncut grass with heaven knows what lurking under the bushes. After 30mins of that, we resigned ourselves to turn around and go back to the hotel. The trip was supposed to last 2hours. After that experience, we were not looking forward to our already paid trip to Bayahibe. But it ended up being our best day on the island. There is a “natural” swimming pool in the middle of the ocean where the water comes only to your waist. We took a speed boat ride there, got some pictures taken, and then went to the beach for a wonderful day out. That made the trip somewhat memorable – in a nice way! I totally recommend this trip, but make sure you sign-up with the rep who works inside the hotel - not the crooks soliciting business on the beach! I must say this is the worse vacation I have ever had. One of the guests told me if you complain long and hard enough, they would “reward” your inconvenience by awarding you a free week stay at the hotel's expense. I loathed my stay there so much that I would not even go back there. Even if they gave me a free week, all expenses paid, I would still turn it down. I do not look forward to spending another second in a mosquitoes, flies infested hotel, with deplorable customer service skills, where the food was nothing but tolerable.

the oasis hamaca is a great place to relax at the beach. the beach is beautiful and kept quite clean. the day entertainment staff are very friendly and are always running games, water aerobics, sports etc if these sorts of things interest you. the pool area is also nice as well, although it can get dirty by the end of the day especially if it rains. the food was great although occasionally the wait staff were a little bit hard to find at the buffet to try and get drinks, etc. the rooms were kept clean, although the window in our bathroom was stuck open which let the mosquitoes in. there wasn't much to do at night though, the disco played only spanish music and it isn't open every night. at other resorts i've been to, the staff often operate pub crawls or other nights out to the cities close by, but this was not the case here. the only other complaint is the BRUTAL front desk service. they take forever to do the simplest things. they tried to charge us double for our stay as they thought the price we had paid for was per person and not for both. we dreaded any time we had to deal with the front desk. the internet is also VERY expensive at the resort and the computers themselves are disgusting (spilled drinks over one of the desks, garbage, etc). all in all, i wasn't disappointed, but it definitely isn't the best beach vacation i've had. but if you're looking for a good place to relax with a nice beach, the oasis hamaca does just fine.