DOING BUSINESS IN
SANTO
DOMINGO
by Mark Chesnut
I’m standing next to a rooftop pool, gazing down
at the wide avenue called Abraham Lincoln. Upscale
restaurants, global advertising agencies, and high-rise
condos and office towers line the street. This may not
be how most people picture the Caribbean, but for business
travelers in Santo Domingo, it’s not unusual at all.
The oldest European-founded city in
the Americas, Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican
Republic, and an economic hub for the nation and the
region. While the city’s beautifully restored historic
center may date back to 1492, this metropolis of more
than two million is clearly focused on the future. Since
the turn of this century, Santo Domingo’s infrastructure
has undergone major improvements, including a brand-new
Metro rail system (one line opened in early 2009, and
another is under construction), an updated airport terminal,
a new convention center, and new hotels. Add to this
an ambitious plan to develop the port into a major,
high-end cruise, retail, real estate, and tourism destination.
While the fact that Ikea is opening here may not impress
most globetrotters, the idea that it’s the very
first Ikea anywhere in Latin America certainly says
something about this growing city.
I’ve been to Santo Domingo multiple
times over the years, and I’ve come again now to
learn more about the latest developments. If all goes
as planned, Santo Domingo will soon cease to be an afterthought
to vacationers heading to the Dominican Republic’s
beach resorts, and more of a must-see destination for
sophisticated entertainment, shopping, and living.
A flurry of construction along the prized
waterfront Malecón is bringing a variety of sleek,
high-rise, residential and retail towers to the water’s
edge. This includes the Malecón Center,
which is home to the Hilton Santo Domingo, and just
down the street from the recently renovated InterContinental
V Centenario. Right next to the InterContinental is
Veiramar III, a 28-story tower on the waterfront Malecón;
other new luxury condo developments include MarAzul,
which features three soaring residential towers along
a quiet park, and Ocean Tower, on the upscale Anacaona
Avenue.
BUSINESS ARTERIES
Sure, the Holiday Inn where you may have stayed
with your family all those years ago probably wasn’t
very exciting, but InterContinental Hotels Group, the
chain’s owner, has revamped the brand and Santo
Domingo is home to one of the newest: the Holiday
Inn Santo Domingo, which debuted in 2009 with crisp,
contemporary lines and décor. It sits squarely
in the center of Abraham Lincoln, one of the main arteries
for business, commerce, and luxury living. The hotel’s
grand opening, which I attended, was like a Hollywood
premiere, complete with searchlights, red carpet, and
live entertainers. Even today, after the crowds have
gone, the view from the rooftop pool is perhaps the
best in the neighborhood.
This district, sometimes called the
Polígano Central, is a shining example
of what planners hope will be Santo Domingo’s future,
right down to the international, name-brand fashion
and local designers. Dominican design, after all, is
already well established (just ask Oscar de la Renta,
a Santo Domingo native). Rising names include Magaly
Tiburcio, Jenny Polanco, and Sully Bonnelly, who began
his career studying architecture and launched his own
clothing collection in 1998. Bonnelly was elected a
member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America
in 2000 (check out his work at www.sullybonelly.com).
Style-conscious shoppers head to places
like the refurbished Acropolis Center, one of
the city’s largest and most upscale shopping malls
with more than 100 stores and restaurants.
Meanwhile, Plaza Andalucia is
a smaller mall, not far away, that also caters to upscale
shoppers and features the work of international and
local designers and artists. Soon to open nearby is
Blue Mall, which will have more than 226,000
square feet of retail space and 123,000 square feet
of office space when it opens in late 2010; the developer,
FVI, is building a similar complex in St. Maarten.
The neighborhood is also good for dining
options. Santo Domingo’s dining scene is becoming
ever more sophisticated, with fusion cuisine blending
Dominican elements (like plantains or tasty sancocho,
a stew that is the national dish) with interesting flavors
from around the world. Current hotspots include Mitre
Restaurant & Wine Bar (a creation of the owners
of long-standing Vesuvio, which is often called the
best Italian restaurant in the Dominican Republic),
and Praia which makes headlines for its “Miami
Beach-chic” lounge style, but it’s also a
fun place to enjoy fusion cuisine.
HISTORIC PROPORTIONS
 It’s
Saturday night, and we’re greeted by a member of
the Spanish court as we enter the Alcázar
de Colón, a royal home built in 1510 for
the newly appointed governor of the West Indies, Diego
Columbus (who just happened to be the son of Christopher).
The finely garbed regent bows deeply before leading
us upstairs to “meet” the Columbus family
themselves. This half-hour tour is part of Noches Vivas
del Alcázar (Living Nights of Alcázar),
a new program with live, costumed interpretive performers
offered Saturday nights until midnight at the historic
site. The guided, costumed tour may be loose on content
and detail, but it has attendees smiling and children
staring wide-eyed at the heavily dressed hosts.
There’s no denying the allure of
Santo Domingo’s history. The Polígano Central
may be “square one” for many business travelers
and shopaholics, but visitors are well advised to explore
other areas too, most notably the Zona Colonial,
the historic city center that was declared a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO in 1991. This beautiful, 16-square-block
neighborhood was the first European urban settlement
in the Americas and is home to the hemisphere’s
first cathedral, hospital, palace, paved street, and
university.
The Zona Colonial offers an interesting
array of accommodations as well, from the Miami Beach-style
Hodelpa Caribe Colonial Hotel to the historic landmark
buildings of the Hotel Frances Santo Domingo and Hostal
Nicolas de Ovando Santo Domingo, both of which belong
to French hotelier Accor’s M Gallery brand.
Also visually inspiring is the Malecón,
a waterfront boulevard lined with sidewalks and benches.
Large-scale international hotel brands are the norm
along this prestigious address, where leading properties
include the recently renovated InterContinental V Centenario,
the Renaissance Jaragua, and the Hilton Santo Domingo.
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