COOK SERVICE INCLUDED
BABY-SITTING
You would like to party until late in the night ? Or to have a romantic dinner ? We can propose you the service of a baby-sitter to look after your precious babies. This service is available from 20 USD for an evening (until 12:00am), and longer service is available anytime. We request that you ALWAYS discuss these options with the Agency in advance; for security and responsibility reasons, they are the only ones entitled to provide such services. Hiring a baby-sitter from the Villa staff or without consulting the Agency is done under your entire responsibility.
EVENTS ORGANIZATION
Have you decided to get married on a sandy creek facing the ocean, party for your birthday or invite some friends for a particular occasion, we can organize your event at Villa Sofia. We can connect you with professionals of the event industry. These personalized services are available upon request, and we will provide you with a quotation at the best prices, depending on your wishes : catering, music band, dancers, dance fire show, barman, … Depending on the service requested, please allow a few hours, days or weeks for a perfect organization.
HEALTH & BEAUTY SERVICES
Vacation is synonymous to relaxing and taking care of yourself : we can setup a relaxing, deep tissue, thaï or sport massage directly at Villa Sofia. We can also organize any manicure or hair service at home if you wish. The price of those services will be discussed directly with each service provider.
NOTE : for security reasons, we discourage you bringing service providers that we don’t recommend. We try to avoid having foreigners entering Villa Sofia.
TRANSFERS TO/FROM AIRPORTS
Domestic transfers can be difficult to organize from abroad; we can do it for you. For security reasons and convenience, we stringly suggest that you use our selected drivers and avoid renting a car directly at the airport if you are not familiar with the country roads and driving habits.
See maps & rates
VEHICLES RENTAL
We can provide you with a list of available cars, 4-wheels and motorbikes rental during your stay. Once your booking of Villa Sofia is confirmed, the Agency will help you in finalizing those details.
ROAD SECURITY ADVICES
Driving habits in the DR may seem particular for visitors from Europe or the USA, and we recommend not to drive from the airport to Villa sofia at night.
We suggest using our domestic transfer options and to rent a car in Las Terrenas (it will be directly delivered to the Villa).
Once Villa Sofia’s rate and availability have been confirmed, the local agency which manages the property, AIC – Azul Inmo Caribe, will send you a rental agreement (to be signed, scanned and returned by email), and all the information to proceed to a wire transfer to their Dominican bank account for the reservation deposit. Villa Sofia will be definitely booked for you UPON RECEPTION of a 50% down payment.
Villa Sofia official rates are calculated in USD, even if they sometimes appear in other currencies on
some websites, and we expect payments in USD. The first down payment can be done by wire transfer (international transfers, SWIFT) directly to the AIC agency local bank account (Banco del Progreso), or eventually by checks sent by postal mail. Once the payment has been received, the villa is firmly booked.
NOTE : if the down payment has not been received within 5 days after the client confirmation, Villa Sofia will be released on the market and will be available for rent for other guests.
Payments by credit card are available on certain websites like Homeaway or Flipkey. However, due to those websites constraints, these CC payments must be done in Euros (EUR) and generate additional costs of currency exchanges (twice : from USD to EUR, then from EUR to USD), banks fees and intermediary commissions. This facility generates an extra cost of about 210 USD per rental. It is only intended for those who don’t have access to wire transfers capability. Please inform us if you want to pay by CC, and we will provide you with an adapted quote including those fees.
Whichever payment mean you chose for the first payment, be aware that we usually receive the rental balance by cash or check upon arrival at Villa Sofia. If you prefer to pay the remaining amount by transfer, it is due 15 days before arrival.
The balance will include the remaining balance of the rental amount, plus the eventual services you may have booked through the agency before your arrival: domestic transfers from the airport, half-board option, arrival shopping list, car rental deposit, etc…
Some extra services, like the HALF-BOARD OPTION, must be booked in advance, and a confirmation deposit must be paid before arrival. The balance will be calculated and submitted for payment at the latest upon arrival at the villa.
Nonetheless, all the services you may request during your stay (baby-sitting, music band, barman service, 4-wheel rental, etc….) will be held by the AIC agency and summed up to the final invoice due upon departure.
On the other hand, some services which have not been consumed, like HALF-BOARD dinners which were cancelled during your stay, will NOT BE REFUNDED.
LOCAL PAYMENTS
Dominican legal currency is the Dominican Peso (DOP, or RD$). The most affordable way to change your own currency (USD or any foreign currency) to DOP is to use the local changers; change offices can propose you unbeatable rates, most of the time without commission, just charging a (very) little fee on the exchange rate.
IMPORTANT : most shops and restaurants don’t accept CC payments.
CURRENCY EXCHANGE
Bring your own currency with you and change it locally (not at the airport !) : the exchange rates are better than in your own country !
Be aware that in Las Terrenas many places also accept USD and EUR.
TIPPING
At Villa Sofia, most guests tip the staff upon departure. The amount depends on the service received, but it usually ranges from 800 RD$ (20 USD) to 5.000 RD$ (120 USD) per staff member.
Of course, tipping is only customary and appreciated, but in no way mandatory !
In bars and restaurants, a service tax of 10% will be added to your bill; an additional tip can also be left if the service was appreciated.
BANKS & ATM
In Las Terrenas, all the banks are located in the Main Street, and most ATM machine are grouped in the bottom part of it (you will aslo find an ATM in the Paseo and in the Fishermen Village).
Note that only Banco del Progreso accepts American Express.
SHOPS
Most tourists shops are also located in the same area and around the Paseo de la Costanera. But walking around the village will let you discover all the typical places that make Las Terrenas so charming.
The biggest supermarket is the LINDO, in the middle of the Calle Principal (main street).
DRIVING AROUND
If you decided not to rent a car, a bike or a quad, you can easily walk around Las Terrenas; for remote location, just use the service of the “motoconchos“, those moto-taxis you will find everywhere and that will drive you everywhere for a few bucks.
Just be sure to agree on a price before you go : typically, prices range from 50 pesos to 300 pesos for a drive within the village.
HOSPITAL
In the case of an accident or emergency, a brand new clinic, run by Cuban doctors, has recently open; it is equipped with modern and efficient equipment.
DOCTORS
For smaller problems, Las Terrenas host some generalist doctors and some specialists, from the Dominican Republic, but also from several parts of Europe.
PARAMEDICAL
Besides several pharmacies, you will also find a lot of paramedical professionals : osteopathy, chiroprators, masseurs, sophrology, Rei-Ki, naturopathy, etc…