Typical house Santo Domingo Este

This is the 8th place I've stayed at in the Dominican Republic in the last 2 years. This has been my most comfortable long term stay. I've stayed in many places for weeks to a month and this was immediately very homey and comfortable. I thought it might be too small at first from the pictures but it really is a good size especially having the nice balcony. The neighbor is also very nice and helped me to check in when I arrived late at night, and help me with my giant suitcase. The host is very responsive and also a great artist; his painting is in the living room! He was very accommodating to bring me an electric burner because I really hate using gas stoves in DR. It seems like they can never actually turn down, they're just always high and burn my food, so he brought me an electric stove. This is the only place I've ever stayed in the DR where I did not have an internet outage, which was super important because I was there working from home and have many meetings. I really never noticed when the electricity went out because most of everything is running on solar energy which is fantastic. The water was warm enough, the bed was comfortable, and the only bugs I ever saw were small spiders. I gave it a good score and not a great score because there were parts that were a little dusty, hence the spiders. And they're really almost hair-like size, so at first you don't see them, which can sometimes be creepier. (But if that's all I'm dealing with in the Dominican Republic, then that's not too bad). The spiral staircase is sometimes very complicated if you're carrying things up the steps, it's so narrow and the only access. I was really nervous about the size of the fridge because I've always had full sized fridges in DR, but it wasn't too bad. Also, the fit of the outside door could be better. That's probably the first thing that my fiance and I noticed because he makes doors and frames. For me it was a good location because it was the closest to my future in-laws, just a short walk. I could get to a couple stores but they are not the best for actual grocery shopping. The best grocery shopping I did was when I took an Uber over to the malecón on La Avenida De España. There is an Olé there with great prices and everything you need. There is also a little frutería a couple of blocks from the apartment (C.5 y C. Diego Tristan) which was great for fruits and vegetables and so inexpensive. Overall, I would stay again.