Fodor's Expert Review Hotel Frances Santo Domingo—M Gallery Collection

Editor's Note: This location is no longer in operation.

Discerning business travelers, American vacationers, celebs, and other luminaries opt for the intimate, refined luxury of this small, well-run hotel. Some updates that guests have longed for are happening; the new restaurant and patio furniture with its fuchsia seats look brilliant. A former French mansion, there are hacienda-like rooms with tall, beamed ceilings overlooking the courtyard, an urban refuge with cast-iron balustrades and hanging flower baskets. (Ask for second-floor corner room No. 205—it's large, with an anteroom, and totally quiet.) Soundproof windows, quality linens and duvets, king-size beds, and bedside lamps are all welcome room amenities. Service is exceptional, with most staffers speaking English. El Patio’s menu has been revised and the dinner menu changes weekly. The M-Gallery brand Grand Breakfast is of a high quality, with hot items individually made and served. The refined management continually works to make a good thing better.