Pros

  • Picturesque spot on a shallow ford of the Rio Yaque del Norte between imposing mountains
  • Innertubing and river excursions
  • Four pools filled with mountain water
  • A la carte restaurant, buffet restaurant, and bars, all on the river
  • Narrow plank hanging bridge spanning the river
  • Just outside Jarabacoa, where several adventure outfitters are based
  • Clean rooms, all with balconies and mountain views
  • Room amenities include AC, mini-fridges, cable TV, and free Wi-Fi
See More Pros

Cons

  • Public areas, including pools and riverbanks, were littered with trash during our visit
  • Gets crowded in pool and river areas
  • Music from the bar audible inside the guest rooms
  • Rooms show definite signs of wear and tear
  • Meager offerings at the all-inclusive buffet
  • No safes, coffeemakers, or hairdryers in rooms
See More Cons

Bottom Line

For the most part strictly a destination for Dominican families with young children, the mid-range Jarabacoa River Club & Resort is dramatically perched above a wading river between two picturesque mountains. The cooler temperatures, pretty location, and inner-tubing fun make it a nice alternative to the island's usual beach resorts, but it can be hard to ignore the crowds and considerable litter. The 45 rooms are basic and slightly worn but cheerful, with balconies and mountain views. The main attraction here is, of course, the river, but there are also two pools, two playgrounds, and riverside restaurants and bars serving simple, mostly local fare (some rates include meals). Those looking for a kid-friendly option on the sand might want to consider Memories Splash Punta Cana.

See More Bottom Line

Amenities

  • Internet
  • Pool

Oyster Hotel Review

Jarabacoa River Club & Resort

Scene

A picturesque river resort popular with large crowds of Dominican families, but the ubiquitous trash and uncollected beer bottles detract from the setting

This resort is packed with local families, and their small children are running and splashing around happily everywhere you look. Its claim to fame is that it's built onto two sides of a picturesque, shallow ford in the Rio Yaque del Norte. On one side are the guest rooms -- a short row of one- and two-story buildings -- below which are two playgrounds, the a la carte restaurant and buffet restaurant, two pools, and a series of steps that lead down to gently sloping boulders and a river wading area. 

Guests who want to get to cross the river without getting their feet wet must brave the high single-file plank bridge (it shakes a lot less nearer the ends). Once across, they'll find a snack bar, another small pool, several platforms with chairs or hammocks for taking in the scenery, and fewer crowds. Sadly, however, there was trash everywhere we looked in the public areas, from styrofoam cups to soiled napkins to beer bottles, stuffed behind tree trunks, into gaps in fences, flowing downstream, or simply left to collect on the sides of the riverbanks. 

Those who want to keep the focus on the kids and are willing to visit an entirely different region should check out the Memories Splash Punta Cana in Bavaro or the Cadaques Caribe near Bayahibe, both of which have water parks. 

See More Scene

Location

On two sides of a river in the mountainous central region of the island, an hour's drive from the nearest airport

About an hour from Santiago's international airport to the north, and a little over two hours from Santo Domingo to the south, the hotel is centrally located in the Dominican Republic -- at least on a map. The catch is that it's nestled in the mountainous central region of the country, so travelers will have to negotiate considerable lengths of winding, steep, and narrow roads, and should be prepared for Dominican drivers playing chicken with opposing traffic. In other words, take locals' optimistic reckonings of how long it takes to get from point A to point B with a grain of salt, and count on spending a couple eternities at a crawl behind a cement mixer laboring up a mountain pass, or a guy on a donkey dragging a cartload of propane tanks right on the median of a road barely wider than your hired minivan. 

Once you get to Jarabacoa, you'll find a lively little vacation mountain town full of outfitters offering whitewater rafting, canyoning, and hiking. The resort itself sits a little out of town up a gentle slope, and is set on both sides of the Rio Yaque del Norte, on a shallow bend between two mountains, with only a couple riverside vacation homes in sight. 

It gets chillier at night in Jarabacoa than in the rest of the D.R., so guests should remember to thank their moms for making them promise to pack a light sweater.

See More Location

Rooms

Simple, cheerful rooms come with free Wi-Fi but are showing signs of wear and can get noise from evening entertainment

The rooms are situated midway on the resort's slope, lower down from the massive parking lot and the lobby, and up the road and a couple pedestrian paths from the restaurants, pools, and river, where all the action is. They're in two rows of one- and two-story buildings in a short, mostly straight line perpendicular to the road, and those on the downhill side have a view of the tops of the restaurants and bars and a bit of the lip of land over the river. 

The rooms themselves are standard, box-like hotel rooms with firm beds and typical mid-range amenities, including AC, cable TVs (though the corner-mounted tube units are dated), and mini-fridges stocked with two small bottles of water. There's also free Wi-Fi in the rooms, a plus in this country, where it often incurs an extra charge. Every room has a balcony with mountain views.

The rooms we saw showed signs of wear, such as hairline cracks in the paint, drawers with badly repaired knobs, a towel ring that came apart at a light touch, and a closet door that wouldn't stay closed. Half of the door latch in the Standard Room we stayed in was also shorn off, making it useless as a security measure. 

The only significant differences between the Standard Sooms and the Suites is that the latter have one queen bed instead of two singles, a larger television, and a small table with chairs. (We also found a wasp in the Suite.) 

At night, the music from the bar and stage area drifted up the hill and was fairly loud inside our room, and was accompanied by the snoring of the guest in the adjacent room. It was better once we stuffed bed cushions into the gap under the adjoining door.

See More Rooms

Features

A lovely river for wading, plus downriver inner-tubing adventures

What would a self-proclaimed river club be without river rafting? The hotel can send guests down the river without a paddle, literally, by pushing them off upstream into the gently flowing water -- in inner tubes, of course -- and then collecting them at the resort's own riverbank after an invigorating and thoroughly drenching ride on the Yaque del Norte. The hotel can also arrange more adventurous whitewater excursions, or other tours that take advantage of the trails, waterfalls, and canyons nearby. 

At home base, there are two playgrounds for little kids to choose from, each geared toward different age groups, while tweens and teens can try their hand at table tennis, scratch up the felt of two pool tables, or play hoops. (There's even an extra basket for throwing practice, but it also seems to be a popular spot for people to park their SUVs.)

The a la carte and buffet restaurants serve simple local fare, and half- and full-board rates are available. The four small pools are often crowded. 

See More Features

Oyster Hotel Review

Jarabacoa River Club & Resort

Scene

A picturesque river resort popular with large crowds of Dominican families, but the ubiquitous trash and uncollected beer bottles detract from the setting

This resort is packed with local families, and their small children are running and splashing around happily everywhere you look. Its claim to fame is that it's built onto two sides of a picturesque, shallow ford in the Rio Yaque del Norte. On one side are the guest rooms -- a short row of one- and two-story buildings -- below which are two playgrounds, the a la carte restaurant and buffet restaurant, two pools, and a series of steps that lead down to gently sloping boulders and a river wading area. 

Guests who want to get to cross the river without getting their feet wet must brave the high single-file plank bridge (it shakes a lot less nearer the ends). Once across, they'll find a snack bar, another small pool, several platforms with chairs or hammocks for taking in the scenery, and fewer crowds. Sadly, however, there was trash everywhere we looked in the public areas, from styrofoam cups to soiled napkins to beer bottles, stuffed behind tree trunks, into gaps in fences, flowing downstream, or simply left to collect on the sides of the riverbanks. 

Those who want to keep the focus on the kids and are willing to visit an entirely different region should check out the Memories Splash Punta Cana in Bavaro or the Cadaques Caribe near Bayahibe, both of which have water parks. 

See More Scene

Location

On two sides of a river in the mountainous central region of the island, an hour's drive from the nearest airport

About an hour from Santiago's international airport to the north, and a little over two hours from Santo Domingo to the south, the hotel is centrally located in the Dominican Republic -- at least on a map. The catch is that it's nestled in the mountainous central region of the country, so travelers will have to negotiate considerable lengths of winding, steep, and narrow roads, and should be prepared for Dominican drivers playing chicken with opposing traffic. In other words, take locals' optimistic reckonings of how long it takes to get from point A to point B with a grain of salt, and count on spending a couple eternities at a crawl behind a cement mixer laboring up a mountain pass, or a guy on a donkey dragging a cartload of propane tanks right on the median of a road barely wider than your hired minivan. 

Once you get to Jarabacoa, you'll find a lively little vacation mountain town full of outfitters offering whitewater rafting, canyoning, and hiking. The resort itself sits a little out of town up a gentle slope, and is set on both sides of the Rio Yaque del Norte, on a shallow bend between two mountains, with only a couple riverside vacation homes in sight. 

It gets chillier at night in Jarabacoa than in the rest of the D.R., so guests should remember to thank their moms for making them promise to pack a light sweater.

See More Location

Rooms

Simple, cheerful rooms come with free Wi-Fi but are showing signs of wear and can get noise from evening entertainment

The rooms are situated midway on the resort's slope, lower down from the massive parking lot and the lobby, and up the road and a couple pedestrian paths from the restaurants, pools, and river, where all the action is. They're in two rows of one- and two-story buildings in a short, mostly straight line perpendicular to the road, and those on the downhill side have a view of the tops of the restaurants and bars and a bit of the lip of land over the river. 

The rooms themselves are standard, box-like hotel rooms with firm beds and typical mid-range amenities, including AC, cable TVs (though the corner-mounted tube units are dated), and mini-fridges stocked with two small bottles of water. There's also free Wi-Fi in the rooms, a plus in this country, where it often incurs an extra charge. Every room has a balcony with mountain views.

The rooms we saw showed signs of wear, such as hairline cracks in the paint, drawers with badly repaired knobs, a towel ring that came apart at a light touch, and a closet door that wouldn't stay closed. Half of the door latch in the Standard Room we stayed in was also shorn off, making it useless as a security measure. 

The only significant differences between the Standard Sooms and the Suites is that the latter have one queen bed instead of two singles, a larger television, and a small table with chairs. (We also found a wasp in the Suite.) 

At night, the music from the bar and stage area drifted up the hill and was fairly loud inside our room, and was accompanied by the snoring of the guest in the adjacent room. It was better once we stuffed bed cushions into the gap under the adjoining door.

See More Rooms

Features

A lovely river for wading, plus downriver inner-tubing adventures

What would a self-proclaimed river club be without river rafting? The hotel can send guests down the river without a paddle, literally, by pushing them off upstream into the gently flowing water -- in inner tubes, of course -- and then collecting them at the resort's own riverbank after an invigorating and thoroughly drenching ride on the Yaque del Norte. The hotel can also arrange more adventurous whitewater excursions, or other tours that take advantage of the trails, waterfalls, and canyons nearby. 

At home base, there are two playgrounds for little kids to choose from, each geared toward different age groups, while tweens and teens can try their hand at table tennis, scratch up the felt of two pool tables, or play hoops. (There's even an extra basket for throwing practice, but it also seems to be a popular spot for people to park their SUVs.)

The a la carte and buffet restaurants serve simple local fare, and half- and full-board rates are available. The four small pools are often crowded. 

See More Features

Best Rates

Amenities

  • Air Conditioner

  • Balcony / Terrace / Patio

  • Cable

  • Children's Pool

  • Free Breakfast

  • Gameroom / Arcade

  • Internet

  • Kids Allowed

  • Pool

  • Poolside Drink Service

  • Separate Bedroom / Living Room Space

  • Supervised Kids Activities

Disclaimer: This content was accurate at the time the hotel was reviewed. Please check our partner sites when booking to verify that details are still correct.