We made reservations to stay at Villa Iguana three months in advance. Upon arriving, we were told that only one of the two AC rooms we had reserved were available because the other one had been given to another guest who had decided last minute to stay longer. The rooms were also tiny and poorly ventilated.

Then, when we decided to change to another hotel in Bayahibe, the two owners, a German couple, got into a shouting match with us! They would not let us leave, and insisted that because we had stepped into the rooms that we were obliged to stay. They also threatened to kick us off of their facilities and were hesitant to let us retrieve our luggage - which had only been there for 10 minutes!! This was the worst experience I have ever had with an accomodation while traveling.

There are two Germans who run Villa Iguana. Martina, the woman, was very nice however the man was very rude. The most amazing aspect of staying there concerns what one has to do to receive toleit paper. They dole out one roll at the time and one is forced to go upstairs to the owners apartment and ask for each roll. And the man is rude and fusses at you for needing it. If you ask the maids for it, they tell you that you must go upstairs to get it.

Also the maids did not know what the "included" breakfast included and of course I did not know, which was a hassle. It was 2 pieces of bread and coffee.

It is sad because the place is lovely, but the male part of the management is very bad.

I visited DR between Jan 7th - Jan 11th, 2006 with my wife. Our main purpose of the trip was for scuba diving. At first we were looking into all-inclusives (AI) but while looking for a dive shop we came across a link for Villa Iguana (VI).

Prior to booking our trip I tried searching for any information on VI. There is a review on this site under "Bayahibe attractions" that talks about VI and ScubaFun, reviewed Feb 2003. (This dive shop was formerly owned by the same owner but about 6-months ago, couple of Americans bought it and one of the co-owners, John is running the shop. I will post a separate review for ScubaFun. BTW they were excellent, basically saved our trip). This review on VI showed signs of problems with management. I also asked around "Local Experts" on the forum section to see if anyone can advise on Bayahibe village itself or VI. Gregg informed me the owners of VI may not be best to deal with, while Kaki and Balto were able to provide me information about the village itself.

Since we were more concerned with diving and would stay time away from the resorts, AI's didn't appeal to us. VI rates were cheap and the location was right by the diveshop, so even with limited info, based on my email exchanges with the owner, I went ahead and "reserved" a penthouse room for 4 nights. The owner lady Martina seemed okay and she was stating that the dive shop was sold so she can concenrate on her villa rental business.

VI is a 4 story apt rental located in middle of Bayahibe. The building looks new and kind of stands out from the rest of the town. There are several studios, couple of 1-bedroom apts and one top floor penthouse for rental.

1 month before our trip, I finalized our penthouse rental price and method of payment. 1 week before I emailed Martina to confirm our reservation. When we arrived, our worries came true when Martina met us by the entrance only to tell us that our room had been rented out and she would show us other rooms to rent if we would like.

At this point my wife and I were furious. Why would she confirm our reservation and wish us a safe trip just a week before and rent our room to someone else couple of days before we arrived? Her reasoning is that she never turns down a customer looking for a room. Then why weren't they shown the room that she was about to show us at that point? She wasn't apologetic but asking us to understand that it's all part of the business. Since when did taking reservation and screwing over customers become part of the business?

Reluctantly after disputing with Martina for a while we realized that we wouldn't get anywhere. I can't demand that she kick out the people from the penthouse. It wasn't their fault and I wasn't going to be a jerk to some total strangers.

We decided to look at the available rooms and were shown a studio and 1-bedroom. They were similar but 1-bed had a kitchenette with a mini-fridge, balcony, and more spacious seating area. The studio had an AC while 1-bed didn't but it wasn't really hot and ceiling fan was enough to keep us cool. Both bathrooms were tiny with very small sinks and shower. The water pressure was barely enough to lather and rinse off soap.

The place wasn't bad. It was a good value. I would compare to as 3 star motel/hotel in the states with 2 star prices. If you were traveling with low expectations and with low budget, you'll probably have no problem with it. I wouldn't be complaining if I had reserved a 1-bedroom to begin with and got what I reserved. But the way she handled our reservation was just unacceptable. It wasn't like she was a manager who really doesn't care about the repuatation of place where she worked for. She was the owner and I find it incredible she would manage her own place in that manner.

I was neither satisfied or dissatisfied with the room. But due to the management/owners I would NEVER consider coming back to VI. If you're looking for a cheap room to just stay, it's worth looking into. But for me, the unpredictablilty of the mangament offsets the value found in this place.