This hotel complex is absolutely gorgeous and looks just like the pictures! If you are smarter than we were when looking at the pictures, you would have noticed that it is a yacht club resort. This means that they excavated the sandy beach strip to have deep water for the yachts and boats to be docked right in front of the hotel. If your idea is to go to a beach resort, walk out the door, and lie down in the sand, this is Not the place for you.

There are some beaches in the area that you could go to but you would need to drive and it would take you > 30 min one way. Alternatively, there is a small island close to the resort that (we are told) has a beautiful beach but obviously you need a boat to get to it. The resort does provide a boat service to/from the island but they charge $150 per person which I think is unbelievably unreasonable considering there are no other convenient beach options!

Either way, the hotel itself is GORGEOUS! It looks like many millions of dollars were spent on it and it feels brand new. So if you are ok with the beach situation, I would highly recommend it!

We had a destination wedding at the Bannister Hotel and it was by far more than what I expected. Delphine our wedding coordinator did a great job of making sure everything went well for us during our wedding weekend. At first I was scared to death thinking there would be a language barrier and not being able to "see" what we are paying for, after the first day of speaking to Delphine on the phone, I knew this was where I wanted to wed even though it is 1.5 hours away from Santo Domingo--it was worth it all. All of the staff at the Bannister Hotel was very helpful. My family stayed at another property however we loved this one the best. If you are looking for a romantic quiet getaway -than this is it. The only drawback is the Bannister does not have a beach, but there is a tour guide operator that is located in the hotel and they have many packages to offer. I can't wait to go back and truly enjoy all of the services. Our wedding activities took up our entire weekend and we were not able to use all of the services offered, however everything else was PRICELESS!!! Job well done and see you guys again!!

An easy 3 hour drive from Santo Domingo on the new toll road. Set on the water with splendid views and lovely grounds this hotel is a wonderful retreat away from it all. The staff are attentive, the food is good and the hotel is conducive to complete relaxation. There was a film crew on location which certainly livened up the evenings. The Deluxe OceanView Suite was spacious and clean with a wonderful bed and marvelous views. I rented a car and explored the area driving out to the stables to take a ride (or plod) to El Limon waterfalls. Also visited Caya Levantado by boat with it warm water, great beach and another lovely place to relax. Next time I hope I will have more time to explore the National Parks. I would recommend this hotel for couples especially, as well as a good convenient location to explore the surrounding area.

We recently enjoyed a one week stay at the Bannister Hotel and loved it! The staff were very attentive and cognizant of the fact that we were in desperate need of some downtime. Fortunate for us, we were the only guests at the hotel for most of our stay. Not so fortunate for the hotel, as they had suffered from a rash of cancellations due to the effects of Sandy on the East Coast. However, being the sole guests allowed the staff to dote on us and really make us feel that we were the lords of the manor. Our room was nicely appointed with a stunning view of the marina. The bathroom, while not huge, was clean, modern and functional, about all that one really needs in a bathroom. Cafe Del Mar was a particular joy as the wait staff and chef took the opportunity to introduce us to the joys of local food, at our request, and produced a fine dinner for us each night. This was exceeded only by their efforts to provide us with perfectly timed sunsets, where they had arranged our table on the pool deck or the lawns so that we could enjoy the incredible sunsets. We would also like to highly recommend the Tour Samana with Terry group as they had guided us through a day of zip lines, beach lunch, local plantation tour and cigar maker. Well worth the time and money. Enjoy your trip to the DR and especially enjoy the people.