Casa Blanca

Casa Blanca Review

Named after the similarly titled movie, this little hotel is just as much a crossroads for intriguing international visitor as Rick's Bar Americain. Your fellow guests might be a French philosophy prof, diplomat types, or a globetrotter from Finland. Susanna Knapp, a charming Swiss woman, transformed this former doctor's home into a fine little inn. In the main building are the reception and dining area, while two guesthouses contain two double rooms and four rooms that each have three beds. (Some guests complain that there's not enough ventilation in the latter, but the hotel is working on the problem.) The six rooms are spartan, but colorful and pristine, and are set amid palm and almond orchards. Pathways lead to the cliffs and down steep steps to the virgin, private beach. You could literally walk for miles along the (stony) beach and the rock formations. Susanna sets a lovely table strewn with bougainvillea, and for guests there's an appealing three-course prix fixe for dinner that fosters camaraderie. Dinner possibilities may be fresh-caught fish and shellfish with pasta, a fish soup with coconut, or sancocho. Occasionally, the restaurant is open to nonguests for a three-course dinner for RD$60 to RD$1,000 (beg for a reservation). And now there is a public laptop and Wi-Fi in the public spaces as well as TV/DVD.