This place is a complete mess. The rooms are hot as hell, mosquitos all around, and it is as noisy as it can get. There are lockers but you can't use them as either they are vandalized or full of garbage . The loud Reggaeton, the same cheesy music over and over, is loud till midnight. The owner is always shouting on top of the music, too loud, rude and with colonial mindset (they refuse to check in many dominicans in their own country, the excuse is that they don'thave passport, but white people can get in without any ID). No way to sleep with windows open as every motorcycle that passes and there are plenty of them, takes a ride on your nerve. Also no screen on the windows, and the little fans on top of the bed don't fix the extreme heat issue. Too loud, hot, extremely uncomfortable and managed by a racist bigot. Total disappointment!

I stayed here for a few days to get a tattoo. This is one of the best places I’ve ever stayed at in my travels. Staff are fantastic and helpful, on-site bar was great, hot tub, pool, darts, free Netflix in the lounge, old school arcade game all added to the stay. Guests were just as nice, and the place is very secure. Easy walk to anything you need. Definitely give them a stay.

Stayed for 3 nights initially, but enjoyed the location and the hostel so much I decided to spend the rest of my 2 week stay at Island Life. It was clean, fairly priced, and the staff was great. Jimmy and Louisa were especially helpful and friendly (be sure to ask for their pizza and arepas.) Strongly recommended for travelers going to Santo Domingo.

Island life hostel is at the end of Colonial zone and therefore perfectly located as you can walk safely through the city and reach everything in short time. It's close to china town for good food as well. Chris the owner and the people working here r really friendly and helpful to find busses or whatever you need. Only downside of the hostel is, that it's actually quite run down or not that well maintained. Warm water works maybe once a day, the kitchen area is near to not equipped at all and everything is quite dirty. I didn't really like putting my food in the fridge or cooking in the run down and dirty pans here but due to my budget I had no choice. Drinking water does not really work so u end up buying bottles anyways. The rooms r okay but no curtains in the biggest one and it's close to a street where there's basically all day long 24-7 cars, music and people shouting. Cockroaches in the damaged lockers... It's a pity as I love the style of the hostel but it really needs to be maintained and needs more people actually working here. For me it was not worth the 20 USD.

Awesome place. Well done. Island life is the perfect Hostel to start and end your stay in 🇩🇴. The location is great and the building is an oasis in what is otherwise a heavily urbanized area. There’s plenty of common space to hangout and connect with other travelers; outdoor benches, a TV room, a bar and a wee pool. The place is clearly very well managed- The staff are always around and very helpful and knowledgeable about the area and back packing in the rest of the country. The breakfast was one of the great perks of the hostel. It was simple yet fulfilling- all basic food groups represented. You can’t go wrong with this place!

Very nice & welcoming staff. Perfect location. Loved the colonial arquitecture with high ceilings and the inside patio. Right in the and the colonial Quarter. Good for solo travelers or groups. Bar opens till late and free breakfast until 09:30 included. Will come back for sure. Thanks Justin's and Pedro.

The pinnacle of luxury in the heart of Santo Domingo... Arriving at the bar you are handed a Golden Ticket. Friendly staff greet you and provide the 500 page rule’s book. Read carefully. I didn’t and arrived after hours. I was stripped naked, covered in peanut butter and placed in a cage with Schumacher the Great Dane – he loves peanut butter. Lesson learned, no more late night parties. The bar is fully stocked and each night they draw a Golden Ticket – the winner gets a free gallon of vodka. They make you drink all of it at the bar. If you don’t, you get thrown in the cage with Schumacher – again, peanut butter. The rooms are great and if you are lucky enough, the staff choses a random local to share your bed. I imagine in the colder months the extra warmth is nice, but it was hot this week, and the old woman I got stuck with had a jimmy leg and kicked me all night. If you kick the local out of bed, you get thrown in the cage with Schumacher again, slathered in peanut butter. See the trend? I highly recommend this location. Staff are the best, bar is fantastic, the social environment is perfect.

+ Good location, inside zona colonial + love the info sheets they give out + Very spacious, 2 levels, with many areas to chill, both outside and inside + Reliable wifi. + Secure - front door is locked, they also have locks on doors to rooms and lockers. + They have dogs for good company. + Better breakfast and coffee compared to other hostels - but the same everyday. - Needs a NON SMOKING area. Literally they had smokers left, right, upstairs and downstairs. I literally was smogged to death by these guests. - Too many flies - need to buy a zapper, a sticky sheet, small cheap items that can fix this. - Tables AND seats need to be wiped down. So sticky and so many stains, food, dog hair, blood. The couches should have changed sheets too. There’s like poop stains on them Overall, a cool place to stay. You can follow my travel tips on YouTube @ iVuDang

Best hostel in Dominicana. In its own league.

To be honest is a nice place but dirty! Old and dirty! Needs some maintenance. I saw many cockroaches.

Excellent value for money. Friendly staff and comfortable accommodation.

Good service and great location. Cleanliness could be improved and rooms were mediocre. Some of the rooms had a bit of mold. Overall average hostel stay.

A great hostel in the heart of Zona Colonial. Friendly and helpful staff and overall a nice hostel environment. Easy stay and they were consistent about upkeep and cleanliness. Simple, delish, and filling breakfast daily.

My stay at the hostel was wonderful. It is spotlessly clean. It is beautifully decorated and at a great location in the Zona Colonial. Chris, the owner, is extremely helpful and friendly, going out of his way to give information on tours, where to go and eat, and even bus times and safety advice. The alcohol and bar food in the hostel were both affordable and good. the staff is multilingual and always happy to help and as a person who speaks multiple languages, it was great to practice them. The hostel is fairly social but has a more chill hang-out space if you like alone time. We stayed in a private room which was beautiful and air-conditioned and Chris was kind enough to give us soap and towels free of charge. All in all, I wish I had more stars to give. I have traveled over 40 countries and stayed in quite a lot of hostels and this one is definitely one of my new favorites. 10/10 would stay again. The Greek

Amazing hostel, very fun environment, awesome + friendly staff, guests are great

super friendly staff with adorable dogs. clean and nice place to stay in santo domingo!

Love the atmosphere. Been here a few times now. Great staff also

Lovely place to meet new people in a great location in Santo Domingo. Rooms are fine and AirConditioned and Staff is very friendly and helpful 👍

This place is really cool. From the staff to the people that stay there. Ya know? Just an all around cool vibe and the amenities are good too.

Hi, I came for one night and everything was perfect: the staff very welcoming, everything clean, very nice place. Thank you very much :-)

I stay here everytime I go to Santo Domingo. Nice staff. Location is great. And it deff looks like a backpacker hostel!

6/5 rating to this utter gem, friendly people, fantastic location, great staff, there really is nothing lacking. Dorms and private rooms are great, I can also highly recommend the breakfast!

This is a great place to stay and you will meet alot of other great people who's traveling here, if you are traveling solo this is definitely the place for you, you can easily find some nice ppl to go around and explore the island with. The staff is super friendly and the bar has good prices to 😁

One of the best hostels I've ever been, great atmosphere ;) Always easy and fun to find good people to connect with as a solo traveler! Chris the owner is an amazing guy and too good in poker... Hope to come back ;)

Amazing, I love it, this place is so cool, the people, the service, the rooms are so nice and the price too, the little bar was so cool and chilling

Amazing place, met tons of cool people from around the world. I'd come back to Santo Domingo just for this place!

Best Hostel I’ve ever been to. Clean, great staff and the English lady who owns it cooks a great curry. 10/10!

I loved the place, the guys who works there are amazing, close to basically everything, but is impossible to rest there. I was in a room in front of the backyard and there were 2 beautiful dogs, but they were so loud. I couldn’t rest the entire night due to their noise. Maybe I wasn’t luck with the day.

Fun, uncomplicated people from all around the world. Good atmosphere

I really enjoyed my stay here and the people I met as well. Breakfast is included and you have access to kitchen and fridge in case you want to cook during your stay. The backyard area is beautifully decorated and pool always accessible. It is close to all the sites in Zona Colonial. I would definitely come back!

An amazing hostel experience. The staff was incredibly friendly, attentive, and helpful. I was traveling alone my first night and I was worried I might not be able to connect with people, but the staff were incredibly open to talking and getting to know me. By the end of the night they were inviting me to join them out on the town, and they proceeded to invite many other hostel guests with us as well. It became a great night and made connecting with people so much easier for everyone. I felt like all the amenities were well taken care of daily and if I did need anything I could just ask. They have several food and drink options in the hostel as well as a fridge/kitchen to prepare your own food. But my personal favorite meal was having handmade pizza from Jimmy. I’ve never had such good tomato sauce, gonna be dreaming about it for years to come 🤤

I had a positive experience here. I've stayed at a number of hostels. I found it very calming and relaxing. Staff was very accommodating and friendly. Thank you Jimmy and everyone else!! They also cooked some meals for an added price like pizza and arepas that were very tasty!!

A must stay if you’re visiting Santa Domingo. Very friendly staff and great owner. “Danny” the Scottish guy will give free salsa lesson from morning until night.