Floor Plan Selection at Sienna: Matching Villa Layouts to Rental Strategy and Lifestyle

Choosing a Sienna floor plan comes down to one honest question: are you buying to rent, to live, or to do both? A smaller 1-2BR villa maximizes rental occupancy and keeps your entry price near the $156,000 floor. A 4-5BR villa fits families and long stays but carries a $560/month HOA. Most Sienna buyers land in the middle — a 3BR that rents well when you're away and hosts comfortably when you're there.

Bottom Line Up Front

• Villa prices run $156,000 to $768,000 — the layout you pick sets both your rental ceiling and your monthly HOA.
• Smaller villas (1-2BR) chase occupancy; larger villas (4-5BR) chase nightly rate and family use.
• HOA scales with bedrooms: $280 / $340 / $400 / $480 / $560 for 1-5BR.
• 90%+ of Sienna lots carry ocean views — a view-facing primary suite drives nightly rate more than raw square footage.
• CONFOTUR's 15-year 0% property tax applies across every layout, so the exemption isn't a tiebreaker — usage is.

Which Sienna floor plan fits a rental-first strategy?

If income is your primary goal, buy the smallest villa that still commands a strong nightly rate — usually a 1BR or 2BR. Smaller units fill more nights a year, cost less to furnish and clean, and let you enter the market closer to the $156,000 starting price.

Here's the logic. In Las Terrenas, rental yields at Sienna project to 6-9% annually, and yield is a function of both occupancy and cost. A compact villa has fewer rooms to fill, lower turnover cleaning costs, and a lower HOA — the 1BR HOA is $280/month versus $560 for a 5BR. That gap compounds across a year of vacancy risk.

The occupancy math

A couple's winter escape or a remote worker's month-long stay is the bread and butter of Las Terrenas short-term demand. Those guests want walkable proximity to Pueblo de los Pescadores and a good view — not a fifth bedroom.

For a deeper breakdown of how those nights translate to dollars, our Las Terrenas rental income analysis for 2026 walks through the assumptions. The takeaway for floor-plan selection: rent-first buyers should optimize for turnover, not grandeur.

Which layout works for family and long-stay living?

If you'll spend three to six months a year here — or want the whole family under one roof — the 3BR to 5BR range earns its higher cost. These plans give each generation privacy, room for a home office, and space for the kind of long Sunday lunches that make a place feel like home rather than a rental.

A Dominican-American family flying in from New York for the holidays needs bedrooms for kids, grandparents, and visiting cousins. A $560/month 5BR HOA reads very differently when it's replacing three hotel rooms every December.

The dual-use compromise

Most buyers aren't purely one or the other. The 3BR is the workhorse layout at Sienna precisely because it rents to families and groups when you're away, yet lives comfortably as a personal residence. You capture short-term demand without over-building for a household of two.

If you're still weighing whether to buy land and design your own or take a finished plan, compare the trade-offs in our guide to land versus a turnkey villa in Las Terrenas. For dual-use buyers, turnkey usually wins on speed to first rental.

How do villa layouts compare on price and HOA?

Bedroom count is the single biggest driver of both purchase price and monthly cost. Use this as your first filter before you get attached to any one view.

Layout	Best for	Monthly HOA	Rental angle
1BR	Rental-first, solo owners	$280	Highest occupancy, lowest overhead
2BR	Couples, income focus	$340	Strong occupancy, low turnover cost
3BR	Dual-use (the workhorse)	$400	Rents to families, lives as a home
4BR	Family use, higher nightly rate	$480	Fewer nights, higher rate
5BR	Multi-generational, legacy	$560	Group/event rentals, personal legacy

Villa pricing across these layouts spans $156,000 to $768,000, and Sienna pre-sales run 15-25% below comparable completed properties. Every layout qualifies for the same $50,000+ in CONFOTUR savings over 15 years, so the tax exemption is a floor under all of them, not a reason to size up or down. Browse the current new construction villa options and layouts to see which plans are still available in Phase 1 and 2.

How much does the view matter versus the layout?

For rental income, orientation often beats square footage. A view-facing primary suite and living area photograph well and justify a higher nightly rate — and at Sienna, 90%+ of lots carry ocean views thanks to the El Jamito hillside sitting at 150-300m elevation.

That elevation does two jobs at once: it delivers the sightline that guests pay for, and it keeps you above coastal hurricane surge zones. Prime residential demand in the Caribbean continues to favor view-led, low-density product, a pattern Savills tracks in its global prime residential research.

Prioritizing rooms with a view

When you pick a layout, ask which rooms face the water. A 2BR where both the living area and the primary bedroom open to the ocean can out-earn a 3BR where the extra bedroom faces the hillside. Orientation is a design choice you make now and can't cheaply change later.

What should first-time buyers weigh before committing?

Match the plan to the life you'll actually live, not the one you imagine on a brochure. Buyers routinely over-size, picturing a full house of guests that materializes twice a year while they pay HOA on empty rooms for ten months.

Run this quick self-check before you sign:

1. Count your realistic occupancy. How many weeks a year will you personally be here, and with how many people?
2. Set your income target. Do you need the rental to fully cover HOA and management, or just offset it?
3. Factor the management fee. Sienna's rental program takes 20% of rental income — model your yield net of that.
4. Check the HOA against your budget. The monthly fee is fixed whether the villa is full or empty.
5. Prioritize view-facing rooms in whatever layout you choose.

A Munich software consultant splitting the year between Europe and Las Terrenas, for instance, often lands on a 2BR: enough for a home office and a guest room, small enough to rent cleanly the eight months he's away. A retired Toronto couple wanting winters here with room for the grandkids leans toward a 3BR. Same development, different plan — because the usage is different.

Once you've narrowed the layout, the pre-construction villa reservation process covers deposits and payment milestones, and the turnkey investment path from purchase to first rental shows how the plan becomes income.

Not sure where you land? To compare the layouts side by side, browse the Sienna villas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest villa layout at Sienna?

The entry point for a Sienna villa is $156,000, at the smaller end of the 1-2BR range, with villa pricing running up to $768,000 for the largest plans. Pre-construction pricing sits 15-25% below comparable completed properties.

Which floor plan earns the best rental yield?

Smaller villas typically protect yield better because they fill more nights and carry a lower HOA — the 1BR HOA is $280/month versus $560 for a 5BR. Sienna rental yields project to 6-9% annually net of the 20% management fee.

Do all floor plans qualify for CONFOTUR?

Yes. Every Sienna villa qualifies for CONFOTUR's 15 years at 0% property tax and 0% transfer tax, worth $50,000+ over 15 years. The exemption applies regardless of bedroom count, so layout choice should be driven by usage, not tax. See the CONFOTUR tax exemption breakdown for details.

Can I change a floor plan before construction?

Because Sienna villas are new construction, buyers reserving early have meaningful input on finishes and, on some plans, layout adjustments. The build-your-villa custom construction guide explains what's adjustable and what's fixed by the phase.

How much are HOA fees by villa size?

HOA runs $280 / $340 / $400 / $480 / $560 per month for 1BR through 5BR villas. The fee is fixed whether the villa is occupied or empty, so factor it into your yield model. Full details are on the HOA and community services page.

Choosing your plan

Sienna's villas span $156,000 to $768,000 and five layouts, but the decision reduces to your calendar and your income target: buy small and view-facing for yield, buy larger for family and long stays, and pick a 3BR when you genuinely want both. The 15-year CONFOTUR exemption and 90%+ ocean views come with every plan — usage is the tiebreaker.

Ready to see the layouts in person and stand in the rooms before you decide? Book a Sienna Discovery Tour — you'll walk the El Jamito site, review available plans with the team, and meet current owners who've already made the same call. The right floor plan is the one that fits how you'll actually live here.