The hotel's entrance includes fountain ponds. A two-story marble lobby contains rose-marble columns, a huge chandelier of lighted tubes, potted palms and plants, a waterfall wall at one end, and a pond at the other. Popular with business travelers, the hotel also attracts leisure travelers seeking walking-distance access to Santo Domingo's historical Colonial Zone and after-dark gaming action in the hotel's casino.

Built in 1956 by dictator Raphael Trujillo for the Dominican elite, closed after his assassination in 1961, and expanded with the addition of a 10-story tower before reopening in 1989, the Jaragua remains