The COE evacuated 1,690 guests from the complex that in 1987 gave rise to what is now Viva Resorts by Wyndham; almost four decades later, the resort faces one of the biggest disasters in its history while the company and authorities determine causes and damages
SANTO DOMINGO – Cane palm has been used for roofing in the Caribbean long before the word “resort” existed. It is lightweight, insulates against the heat, is readily available in any nearby forest, and, above all, offers a unique oceanfront experience that neither zinc panels nor concrete can achieve.
That same image went viral on social media yesterday, June 19, as it burned, consuming the facilities of the Viva Dominicus Beach by Wyndham hotel in one of the largest hotel fires in recent memory in the eastern region of the country.
Neither the Emergency Operations Center (COE) nor Viva Resorts by Wyndham have officially stated where or how the fire originated, although they did declare that an investigation has been opened to determine the cause.
Beyond the specific causes of this fire, the very element that sells the postcard, intrinsic to vernacular architecture, the bohío, the bungalow with a natural roof, the silhouette that distinguishes a resort from a city hotel, is also, by its nature, a material of greater structural risk in the face of fire than concrete or clay tile.
More than 1,600 guests evacuated
According to a statement from the Emergency Operations Center, the agency evacuated approximately 1,690 guests from the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach hotel, who were relocated to nearby hotels and other facilities to ensure their well-being and safety.
The figure gives a sense of the true size of the complex: it is not a boutique hotel, but one of the largest properties in Bayahibe, with more than 500 rooms.
The COE also specified that the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, a sister property of the same chain located a few meters away, did not suffer any damage.
During the event, and as a preventative measure, guests were moved to safe, well-ventilated areas according to established protocols. Some of the evacuees from Dominicus Beach were relocated there, as well as to other establishments in the Miches tourist destination and to the Catalonia and Sunscape hotels in the Bayahibe area.
Thirty-nine years
The hotel that burned down yesterday, Friday, is not a recent construction. According to its own official website, the company began in 1987 with Club Dominicus in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, the brand's first all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, founded by Ettore Colussi, who still chairs the chain today. That initial project was the seed of what is now Viva Resorts by Wyndham, a chain that has operated more than 2,000 rooms in the Dominican Republic alone.
The property changed size and name over the years. In December 2003, the company signed a strategic alliance with Wyndham International Inc., becoming the all-inclusive division of one of the largest hotel chains in the United States.
Nearly two decades later, in 2020, the hotel reopened after a temporary closure due to the pandemic, with a complete renovation of its rooms, lobby, pools, restaurants, and bars.
Thirty-nine years after its opening, the complex retains as a visual hallmark the cane roofs on part of its structures, the same element that the images this Friday showed engulfed in flames, without this implying a confirmed cause of the fire.
In a communication addressed to its business partners and tour operators, signed by Amanda Santana, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Viva Resorts by Wyndham, the chain reported that it was forced to cancel all scheduled arrivals from this Friday until further notice, and that the hotel will remain closed at least until next Sunday while the corresponding assessments are carried out and the extent of the damage is determined.
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