Lodges Robinson Crusoe Would Love Part 2

By Rooksana Hossenally

West of the Samaná Peninsula, about 200km from El Cabito, I stopped at Natura Cabana, an isolated beachside boutique hotel outside the lively surf town of Cabarete. Originally built as a home in 1996 by Chilean migrants Soledad Sumar and Pablo Garimani, the bungalows evolved into a lodge almost by accident. “My parents’ guests just never wanted to leave,” said Soleded “Lole” Sumar, one of Sumar and Garimani’s four daughters who today run Natura Cabana. “So eventually we made it bigger for them to stay or come back to, and then it slowly became our 10-bungalow hotel.” The stylish rooms are made of highly polished wood and exposed rock, all adorned with bright bedspreads of Indian silks and cottons, and there’s the added bonus of yoga classes every morning and evening, included in the cost of the room.

 

Casa Maravilla, located next door, is owned by Belgian immigrant Marc Bautil and his wife Elvira, who was born in the Philippines and grew up in the US. The highlight of Maravilla is the beautiful multi-storey wooden bohio (a shack made of straw or wood, whose main living area has open sides and a view of the beach), providing a real Robinson Crusoe feel. At night, guests fall asleep to the sound of the ocean waves. “We wanted to provide a different experience that was closer to nature,” Marc said.

 

My next stop was a small hotel in the small village of Tubagua, located about 33km west of Cabarete. Flanked by green, leafy hills and overlooking sugarcane fields toward the turquoise Atlantic, the Tubagua Plantation Eco-Lodge has spectacular views. It also had a charm – and a roster of delicious, home-cooked local food – that made me want to stay for another year, if not a lifetime. Owned by former Canadian journalist and Puerto Plata province’s current Canadian consul Tim Hall, the accommodation features rustic bungalows and one private cottage. Each bungalow room has its own open balcony and a mosquito net. The doors don’t lock (or even close properly), speaking to the safe, familial atmosphere of the bungalow and its openness to the natural world just outside.

Even with the recent boom of small, sustainability-minded hotels, many owners said that most visitors to the Dominican Republic continue to assume that the big resorts are the island’s only accommodation choice. Yet, according to Hall, these “impersonal” structures don’t represent the reality of Dominican. “The reality is so much better than that,” he said. After experiencing some of the country’s most beautiful views, delectable food and the local culture’s warmth, I had to agree.