It was hard to find a good and not too expensive hotel in Santiago in a good location. We found Platinum a while ago and stay there often when we go to Santiago. The rooms are quite nicely furnished, very clean, with A/C, cable TV, Internet, and a mini-bar. You'll find shampoo and conditionner in the bathroom as well as a shower cap; quite unusual for rather inexpensive hotels in the DR. All this for about $50 including taxes. The front desk staff and bell boys are very courteous. I'm not sure whether they speak English or not; both my husband and I speak Spanish fluently. The hotel is located right accross from a college campus, at the back of a small shopping center. While you may need to take a cab to go downtown, I believe it is worth it. We stayed at a less expensive hotel downtown, and not only the surrounding area was terrible and dangerous at night, but the fridge in our room was full of roaches. The Platinum instead is clean and in a good location. We had breakfast at Platinum's restaurant. It's ok, but not very good. However, I highly recommend the bar at the corner of the shopping center where Platinum is. The place is very charming (large TV screens, 3 computers hooked to the Internet which you can use for free, very nicely decorated, and it's quite affordable. We ate an incredible good steak ("churrasco") for less than US$9 each. I've paid a lot more for steak in other places in the DR, and never got such a good steak. To my surprise, I asked the owner, the meat was actually local. It was tender and cooked just right (we asked for one medium and one rare, and got exactly what we ordered!). I highly recommend to try this place and have your steak without a sauce. You'll see what I mean.

I stayed in 5 hotels in the Dominican Republic. This was definitely the worst. The room smelled bad, no hot water and it's far from where everything is happening. Only one staff member spoke English. Go with Aloha Sol instead. It was the same price and I saved a lot on taxi cabs.

We were in Hotel Platino twice, once in May 07 and now again in December. In each ocassion we asked for their least expensive room, and didn't pay over $50 with taxes included. Both rooms were in the lower floors, so no much of a view, but the rooms were excellent (one of them was actually quite roomy and had a nice wet bar), both with A/C, fridge, etc.. Very cleaned and nicely, although not expensively, decorated. Excellent service too. They have Wireless Internet but in their top floors only. In the lower floor rooms, they have wired Internet. I wasn't carrying an ethernet cord, and they immediately offered and brought one to the room. We go often to Santiago and woudn't even think of staying anywhere else. As to the restaurant, we had only one dinner there and was pretty good. Service was exceptional for DR standards. As we sat, the waiter immediately brought us fresh bottled water, and continue serving water as we drank it. Most commonly in the DR you will get a waiter trying to sell you a bottle of water, many times at very excessive prices, instead of offering you a glass from their bottled water. That says something about service. Surely, we tipped him very well.

I just stayed in the Hotel Platino for a few nights with my wife. I really liked the hotel, it's quite, in the center of the city and a very safe area. The hotel lobby is pretty cute and cozzy. The rooms are not luxurious suites but rather confortable places to rest and cool off. The A/C in the room I satyed was very good. you find small goodies in the fridge of the room priced at very moderate prices. Next time I visit santiago I am staying there...

I just stayed in the Hotel Platino for a few nights with my wife. I really liked the hotel, it's quite, in the center of the city and a very safe area. The hotel lobby is pretty cute and cozzy. The rooms are not luxurious suites but rather confortable places to rest and cool off. The A/C in the room I satyed was very good. you find small goodies in the fridge of the room priced at very moderate prices. Next time I visit santiago I am staying there...