When Christopher Columbus landed in what is now the Dominican Republic, he declared it “the fairest land under Heaven.” But despite its beauty, the country has endured a traumatic history, including the 30-year regime of dictator Rafael Trujillo. Fortunately, this exquisite place now seems to have settled into a period of relative stability and prosperity.

Many Americans have long been familiar with its most visible export: brilliant baseball players. Since 1956, when the New York Giants hired Ozzie Virgil, nearly 500 Dominicans have played in major league games, remarkable for a country of 10 million people.

Nowadays, a warm and friendly populace, hundreds of miles of pristine beaches and a new golf course opening every six months lure tens of thousands of visitors (see Island Golf Courses). Tourism here has long been synonymous with gargantuan all-inclusive resorts. These keep on coming — the Bank of China recently committed a half-billion dollars toward the new Punta Perla development— but a rising economic tide has resulted in a handful of commendable smaller hotels. On a recent trip, I found two places that I can endorse without hesitation, and one that missed the mark.

The Peninsula House, Las Terrenas

The Peninsula House, a plantation-style guesthouse set on a lush hillside overlooking the coastline of the Samana Peninsula, is my favorite property in the Dominican Republic by a country mile. The six airy suites and striking public areas are distinguished by a museum-quality art collection, the life’s work of French proprietor Marie-Claude Thiebault and herAmerican partner, Cary Guy.

A small world unto itself, The Peninsula House is the result of catholic but impeccable taste and a thousand intelligent decisions. Though one travel glossy has mistakenly described it as a “restored” Victorian mansion, the property is relatively new, having first opened in February 2008 after a three-year construction effort. The 18,000-square-foot complex sits amid 15 acres of landscaped grounds. Perched 1,000 feet above sea level, it affords sweeping views of Playa Coson and the Las Ballenas Islands. At night, the dense forests of the surrounding lomas, or broad coastal hills, are filled with animated chatter.

Most visitors arrive via a two-hour drive from Santo Domingo along the new Samana Highway, or after a 45-minute drive from Samaná El Catey airport (AZS), which receives flights from Canada and Europe. Unless they’re taking advantage of the helipad, the journey concludes with a bumpy car ride along a winding single-track road, followed by a warm, informal welcome. On arrival, we stood for a moment in the foyer admiring the light-filled interior courtyard, rife with broad-leafed tropical plants, before being led up to our spacious corner suite. This came with high ceilings and a hardwood floor scattered with kilims, a four-poster king-size bed and an antique writing table. Louis XIV chairs and cabinets were combined with Indonesian marionettes and mandala scrolls. Inside the cozy bath, a rainfall shower sat opposite a soaking tub. French doors opened onto a vast wraparound veranda.

The Peninsula House is not appointed with art and antiques so much as inhabited by them. These run the gamut from formal European works to playful eccentricities — for example, a small herd of toy sheep is clustered beneath a staircase. Surprises abound, from the arcane nautical instruments in the billiards room to a Syrian gaming table off the patio.

Cocktails are served downstairs at 6, promoting an hour or two of easy conversation before dinner at 8 (though the schedules here are extremely flexible). Dining on a breezy veranda is eminently civilized, and meals feature dishes such as tangy merguez skewers, delicious dorado ceviche, roasted quail in a caramelized onion reduction, or flank steak with Argentinean chimichurri sauce. Guests take lunch down at The Beach Restaurant, a casual open-air establishment that is a five-minute car ride from the main property (ask, and you will be driven). There, a cold Presidente beer and some salted coconut chips were followed by a delicious catch of the day with housemade mango chutney, and a near-perfect slice of flourless chocolate cake.

On a half-mile constitutional along the reddish-gold sands of Playa Coson, we ran into only a handful of other people. The rest of the afternoon was spent up at the main property, reading by the pretty saltwater pool. In the evening, we took in the spectacle of a lightning storm from our veranda, along with a snifter of rum and some Louis Armstrong on the radio.

While it may lack the spa and sport facilities of a classic luxury beach resort, The Peninsula House is a very special place, and is certainly a fine choice for a birthday or an anniversary with a zero in it.

THE PENINSULA HOUSE, 95, Junior Suite, $580 (breakfast included), Las Terrenas. Tel (809) 962-7447.

Tortuga Bay, Punta Cana

Tortuga Bay opened in 2005 and comprises a loose necklace of 13 canary-yellow villas set on a sparkling private beach within the grounds of the much larger Puntacana Resort & Club. Featuring interiors by the Dominican designer Oscar de la Renta, the 30 suites provide an excellent option for those seeking a restful beach vacation amid instantly welcoming surroundings. Families in particular will appreciate the wide-open spaces and the extensive facilities of the surrounding resort.

Punta Cana was a pristine but inaccessible 30 square miles of beachfront forest when it was purchased by a group of Miami-based investors in 1969. It sat virtually undeveloped for nearly a decade. A commercial airport finally arrived in 1984, and several large all-inclusive resorts followed, but it wasn’t until the late ’90s that the area attracted the attention of high-end hospitality groups.

Transportation to Tortuga Bay is seamless: We were greeted on the airport tarmac, whisked through customs, and had just enough time to take a few sips of chilled water before our car arrived at the modest front office building. After a brief, cordial room tour, we were handed our golf cart keys and a cell phone for concierge requests, then were left alone to relax. We strolled barefoot across 10 yards of putting green-like lawn to an ocean featuring at least four distinct shades of blue.

In contrast to some of his flashier work on the fashion runways, here de la Renta has employed a subdued but inviting palette of beige, verdigris and salmon. Our bright and airy 1,100-foot junior suite was dominated by a wicker canopy bed, which sat across from a coral stone balcony. Potted palms and ornithological prints complemented the artisanal rattan furniture. Two baths featured a sunken Jacuzzi tub and a spacious walk-in shower, respectively. A sizeable kitchenette was just off the entry foyer. The wireless broadband worked flawlessly.

All of Tortuga Bay's facilities are charming and accessible within a two- or three-minute walk. The pool sits in an enclave bordered by a riot of tropical plants, and a nearby outdoor Jacuzzi is hidden within a colorful trellis of bougainvillea. Rather than use the slightly forlorn glass-walled gym, we opted for an early-morning run on the beach. The resort’s Bamboo restaurant offers an excellent continental breakfast and tasty lunch fare, including a delicious prosciutto sandwich, but we found some main courses at dinner to be less impressive, most notably an overdone Kobe steak. At La Yola seafood restaurant, a perfectly seared piece of snapper was accompanied by a bland tower of vegetables drowned in oil. Regrettably, the resort’s gourmet restaurant was closed during our stay.

Tortuga Bay has won high praise for its golf courses, chiefly P.B. Dye’s La Cana, a par-72 with 14 oceanview holes. The Tom Fazio designed Corales, another coastal course, opened last April. Dye is currently at work on a third course anchoring a residential development. As my own game could be described as a series of disasters interrupted by the occasional miracle, I sought the assistance of an amiable pro at the resort’s excellent practice facility. The golf club also houses a Six Senses Spa, the only one in the Americas run by the well regarded Thai group. Perhaps the property’s best-kept secret is a small network of freshwater springs located in the 1,500-acre Indigenous Eyes Ecological Reserve, a five-minute cart ride from the Tortuga Bay villas. Twelve limpid pools sunk in limestone coral are sprinkled along a half-mile trail that loops through dense subtropical forest. One especially hot afternoon, we had them all to ourselves. They were cold and perfect.

TORTUGA BAY, 89, Ocean Front Junior Suite, $740; Ocean Front Two Bedroom Suite, $1,425. Puntacana Resort & Club, Punta Cana Tel. (888) 442-2262.

Casa Colonial, Puerto Plata

Casa Colonial in Puerto Plata bears all the hallmarks of a well-executed boutique hotel in South Beach, from the copse of young bamboo trees in its white marble lobby to its spacious oceanview gym. While this 50-room property might appeal to fans of contemporary design, it suffers from a poor location. Flanked by boisterous allinclusives along a pedestrian stretch of Playa Dorada, the property feels hemmed in. And the 250-acre complex in which it is situated is a vast hodgepodge of souvenir malls and casinos.

We certainly had no complaints about our junior suite, a marble-floored space with simple dark-wood furniture and an expansive bath with two basins, a generous tub and a separate walk-in shower. A lounge area with a comfortable sofa in a loose cotton slipcover abutted a small balcony.

Perched three stories above the beach, the hotel’s chief asset is its pool, a shimmering plane of water surrounded by a dozen lounge chairs. Four individual Jacuzzis are also available. Directly below the pool area is a Cybex gym and a spa that comes with a steam room, a sauna and a lightfilled reading area.

The food at Casa Colonial is excellent. In the Veranda restaurant, we enjoyed breakfasts of eggs Benedict atop cassava cake, and coconut-almond french toast with warm pineapple jam. Casual lunch options included a shrimp Cobb salad, a skirt steak sandwich with a tangy chimichurri relish, and a superlative ceviche of spiced ahi tuna. On our last evening, we sipped a Brugal Anejo rum in the lobby bar before a dinner in the formal restaurant Lucia of lobster crêpes, venison osso buco and flan.

Beach service at the hotel was efficient enough, but I had to wave away several invitations to peruse Cuban cigars and investigate timeshare opportunities. 

Casa Colonial is a perfectly agreeable place to relax by the infinity pool, but for a sophisticated beach vacation, Tortuga Bay is greatly preferable.

CASA COLONIAL, 80, Junior Suite Ocean Front, $350; Deluxe Suite Ocean Front, $525. Playa Dorada, Puerto Plata. Tel. (809) 320-3232. 

Map © Andrew Harper.