Dominican Republic – Paradise ends at the hotel walls?

In previous posts we praised this paradise island to the skies…. However, it is also worth looking at the Dominican Republic from the other side – beyond the five-star hotel all-inclusive version, and there a completely different life begins.

Paweł mentioned that everyone in the hotel is polite, friendly – it’s true, they are like that because that’s what the employer expects from them, as much as they expect salaries and tips. The Dominican Republic is one of the poor countries and getting a job in a hotel is like winning a lottery ticket. Right at the beginning, our resident told us about how little they earn and you have to tip because they have whole families to support.

It’s hard for tourists to see real life – the only opportunity to do so is usually for them to view the Dominican Republic from behind a bus window on their way to a tour.

Most hotels are huge complexes, surrounded by a high wall with a “guardhouse” at the entrance. They are like cities, where there are restaurants, stores, swimming pools, entertainment, etc. The average tourist has no reason to go outside the hotel, as everything is provided on site. Stepping outside, we find ourselves on an empty street, nothing around. We may be generalizing a bit, but we’ve seen quite a few hotels located this way.

Outside the hotel, in small towns you can see poverty at every turn. In fact, just walk a bit along the beach outside the hotel grounds and you’ll meet families whozłspend the day at the beach away from the tourists. We also made it to the market just offshore (every major wave almost washed up the thresholds of the stores), where locals were selling souvenirs. The atmosphere is straight out of an Egyptian bazaar, where there is no way to enter the store just to look. Of course, negotiations also welcome ;)

We regret that we could not learn more about the society, culture and customs, but with this there is a reason for another trip to the paradisiacal (?) Dominican Republic.