Santo Domingo Bay Convention Resort & Casino
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Santo Domingo Bay Convention Resort & Casino is a family-friendly all-inclusive resort in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic with 350 rooms. Amenities include Adults-Only Pool, Beach, Buffet Dining, Casino and Gym. Travelers rate it 3.6/5 across 6,362 Google reviews.
Seaweed & sargassum
Juan Dolio & Boca Chica gets sargassum, typically worst May through September.See the month-by-month guide →Restaurants (3)
| Type | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Buffet | Buffet Internacional |
| Italian | La Famiglia |
| Asian | KIBŌ |
From the resort's own dining pages, checked . Only restaurants the resort lists are shown.
Amenities
Traveler Insights(298 discussions)
Santo Domingo Bay Convention Resort & Casino is the old Hamaca hotel in Boca Chica, rebuilt from the structure up. Globalia, the Spanish group behind Air Europa and Be Live Hotels, closed the Be Live Experience Hamaca complex, kept only the frame of a building that dates from 1950 (Walt Disney and Lillian Disney stayed there, which is why the Dominican press calls it emblematic), and reopened it in December 2025 under the new name. The Hamaca names are retired, and this page replaces the Hamaca Garden and Hamaca Suites entries that used to cover the complex. What has not changed is the setting: a reef-sheltered bay of calm, waist-deep water ten minutes from the capital's airport.
The operator describes around 350 rooms and suites facing the sea or set in gardens, up to a Bay Signature Suite, and three pools: an oceanfront infinity pool, a family pool and an adults-only pool. Dining runs to an international buffet, La Famiglia for Italian, KIBO for Asian, the SDB Coffee snack bar, and two bars, the Mr. Rogers cocktail lounge and a rooftop bar. The casino is open 24 hours with more than 60 machines and the usual tables, the gym is open around the clock with ocean views, and the spa has a Finnish sauna, steam room and treatment suites. Boca Chica remains a public bay and the capital's weekend escape, so expect day visitors on Saturdays and Sundays even though the resort's own beach frontage is private.
This is best for travelers who want a beach stay within reach of Santo Domingo, for conferences and weddings that need a beach and a convention hall in one place, and for anyone who wants Boca Chica's calm water without a long transfer. It competes with the capital's business hotels and Juan Dolio's resorts more than with Punta Cana's mega-resorts, and a hotel this new carries first-year risk, so weigh reviews dated after December 2025 and set aside anything filed under the old Hamaca names, whose complaints about worn rooms and a weak buffet describe a building that no longer exists.
Pros
- +It sits on Boca Chica Bay, one of the Dominican Republic's best-known beaches: a reef-protected crescent of calm, shallow turquoise water that is genuinely swimmable for families and non-swimmers
- +The closest all-inclusive beach resort to the capital: minutes from Las Americas International Airport and roughly 30 minutes from Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, so a city day trip is easy
- +Everything but the structure is new. Globalia gutted and rebuilt the old Hamaca hotel for around 41 million euros and reopened it in December 2025, so rooms, pools and restaurants are new rather than refreshed
- +Three pools with distinct moods (an oceanfront infinity pool, a family pool and an adults-only pool) plus a private stretch of beach
- +A 24-hour casino on site with more than 60 slot machines, roulette, blackjack, poker and a sports bar, a rarity among Boca Chica hotels
- +Dining is compact but specific: an international buffet, La Famiglia (Italian) and KIBO (Asian) a la carte, the SDB Coffee snack bar, and two bars, Mr. Rogers for classic cocktails and a rooftop bar with views over the bay, all in the all-inclusive
- +Convention halls, meeting rooms and oceanfront wedding settings make it the obvious pick for a beach-side conference or a wedding near the capital
Cons
- −It only reopened in December 2025, so the track record is short; guest reviews filed under the old Be Live Hamaca names describe the building before it was gutted, and there is not yet enough feedback to judge the new operation
- −Dining is small by Caribbean all-inclusive standards: three restaurants, a snack bar and two bars, against a dozen or more at a Punta Cana resort, and the a la carte rooms ask for reservations
- −The old complex had a long record of weak buffet food and slow, unhelpful check-in, and there is not yet enough post-reopening feedback to say the rebuild fixed the operations as well as the buildings
- −Boca Chica is a public bay and a weekend escape for the capital, so the beach fills with day visitors on Saturdays and Sundays and loungers and towels run short; the resort's frontage is private but the water is shared
- −The spa (Finnish sauna, steam room, relaxation room, massages and facials) is a paid extra in most all-inclusive packages; confirm what your rate covers before you book treatments
- −Boca Chica is a working town wedged between the airport and the Caucedo container port, so the surroundings are not glamorous, and the hotel is built around a convention centre and a casino, which means conference groups and an events crowd rather than a purely leisure vibe