Ocean El Faro - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

• 

  A disappointment so far

  We’re mid way through our stay here at Ocean El Faro and really struggling to understand the amazing reviews we read beforehand. We’re a UK couple that have travelled a long way to be here for our honeymoon. Some Pros… resort is vast and swim up pool bars are excellent. Sleep quality is great; the best bed I have slept in. Beach is lovely. Everything else I can only describe as average. Food is really sub-par. Sakura was a nice show, but food just ok. Margarita was extremely poor quality. I ordered a medium cooked rib eye at Pez Dama and it was some of the worst quality meat I’ve seen. Surprisingly the best food we’ve had is at the buffet. All sun loungers are reserved well before 7am despite clear signs not to - it’s just not enforced. These people won’t then show up for hours and hours. We paid to upgrade to El Beso but it’s arguably worse. It’s impossible to relax in the morning. I emailed my concerns and have had no response. Service is very hit and miss - I’ve tried to order a cocktail that is on the menu 4 times in varying bars and nobody has been able to make it. They just say no. I was just told that Pez Dama was not yet open and I had to wait; despite it being 7:07, despite other people sitting down with coffee and despite other people using the buffet. A bizarre welcome. Room is nice, but soft furnishings are grubby with stains. Overall this would be a lovely holiday for families travelling from US, but we’re incredibly disappointed that we’ve booked this for our honeymoon and we’re trying to make the most of it while we’re here.

  Mar 24, 2025
• 

  The best experience

  Amazing vacation!!! The staff were great and friendly. Our room was great. It was clean and the fridge was stocked daily. The layout of the resort was amazing. With the hotel rooms being at one end of the resort and the disco, bowling alley, and restaurants located at the front of the resort. It was very clean. The activities were fun. The food and drinks were delicious.We met some wonderful people while we were there. Definitely would return!

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Excellence

  Very beautiful resort with excellent food and service. We enjoyed breakfast every morning at the Privilege Lounge. Joel was a fantastic butler, very attentive, responsive and friendly! We will be back soon with the rest of our family. 🥰 🥰

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Great place

  Had a wonderful 2 weeks here from 24th feb 2025. Weather was amazing ! The staff work hard here there always busy . The place is kept realy clean . Food good an easy to book tge restaurants too . Big shout out to crisele at tge pool bar for looking after us , non stop working an non stop smiling ! Lovely you g lady !! Also marcos on the blue team very entertaining an friendly with everyone 😊 lastly juan carlos made his omlettes fab an always with a smile 😊 many other staff were so friendly too . Rooms were biig spacious an. Comfy too Just a couple of tiny niggles an i mean tiny , alot of pressure selling to try get you to upgrade ir sign up which got on ya nerves a bit . Also first week all the main restaurant was open an was alot better , tgey closed half of it the second week an this made you que an it was realy busy an not half as enjoyable. Fantastic place though with great staff

  Mar 21, 2025
• 

  NOT WORTH THE COST, Horrible Customer Service and Room Accommodations

  From the photos and most reviews, this hotel seems impressive, but the reality becomes clear once you arrive. I visited with my family, including my two boys (8 & 10), along with my in-laws, who had a separate room on the family side. Here are some positives: -The welcome lobby was beautifully designed. -The lobby bar was the best on the property (I didn’t have access to the Privilege bars/lounges). -The lazy river and water park were enjoyable for kids (though there was one downside, which I’ll mention later). -The evening entertainment for kids was engaging, with plenty of activities. For for the negatives: This first 3 points are mostly related to the International Buffet but customer service was not their strong suit at hotel all around. 1) Terrible Customer Service – It’s clear that the hotel is understaffed, and the staff lacks proper training. At the breakfast buffet, we were frequently seated at tables missing utensils, napkins, or glasses—almost every single day. They would run out of these items to accommodate everyone. When someone finally brought water, we would request utensils and additional drinks, but 90% of the time, there was no follow-through. Due to the lack of service, we often had to get up and go to the staff tables ourselves to grab utensils or napkins, and even had to pour our own coffee and water refills. We often had to ask several times to get any service. It seemed like no one had assigned tasks—staff members were running around trying to respond to whatever they could but would often forget what they were doing because they got sidetracked. It was the most disorganized staff and service I have ever experienced, both at home and at any vacation destination I’ve visited. 2) Questionable Hygiene Practices – I witnessed a waitress take glasses, utensils, and napkins from a recently vacated table and give them to another table. While they may have appeared unused, this was still concerning. Additionally, staff would pick up glasses from the top—where guests drink from—after handling dirty plates and taking them to the kitchen, without washing their hands in between. 3) Lack of Supplies – At one point, the hotel completely ran out of cloth napkins. When we asked for napkins, we were given paper ones—but only after asking four or five times. I asked for a mimosa one of the days, and they mentioned they didn't have any more champagne. They also ran out of towels for the pool area. 4) Lazy River Tube Mismanagement & Rude Staff – A staff member sat comfortably under his umbrella, claiming there were no tubes available, despite many guests holding onto them while lounging in their chairs. No effort was made to retrieve tubes for others to use. After finally tracking one down myself, I exited the lazy river only to have the same staff member suddenly spring into action—eager to take my room number to document the tube return. When I explained that I hadn’t checked one out and had simply gotten it from another guest, he became visibly irritated. In an aggressive tone, he loudly demanded, “Lady, give me your room number,” despite my repeated explanations. 5) Hot Tub Room is a Complete Waste – We paid for a room with a second-floor hot tub, but it was completely unusable. In both our room and my in-laws' room, the faucet barely released any water, and warm/hot water was nonexistent. Worse, the tub wouldn’t even fill. After calling maintenance, they came to check and somehow got it to start filling—but with no warm water, and it took over two hours to fill completely. I figured the heat from the day might warm the water, so we planned to use it later. When I returned, the water had completely drained out. DO NOT pay extra for this room—the hot tub is a total waste of space. The only potential benefit is the extra upstairs bathroom, so if you need two bathrooms, it might be worth it. But don’t count on the hot tub being functional. 6) Air Conditioning Issues & Poor Maintenance – In my in-laws' room, the air conditioning was on but completely unadjustable. They had no control over the temperature and had to leave the balcony door open just to balance out the cold. My mother-in-law reported the issue, but the staff was unable to fix it. Eventually, the AC completely broke, and instead of offering a real solution, they simply told her there was nothing they could do and asked if she could stay in the room without air conditioning. 7) Misleading Shuttle Service – Just a Sales Trap – The resort seems more focused on ensuring you spend money with them rather than providing a quality experience. We wanted to visit downtown and explore the stores, so I asked multiple times if their free shuttle went to downtown, specifically to Eden Spa. Each time, they assured me it did and that it left twice a day. However, when we boarded the shuttle with another couple, we were taken to a random shop in an isolated area. Both we and the other couple immediately realized this was not where we had asked to go. Frustrated, we decided to call an Uber and make our own way downtown. Before leaving, we purchased a couple of items from the store, and at checkout, they asked for our room number. This was odd since we were supposedly off-site. While I have no proof, it certainly seemed like the hotel was either getting a kickback or had some sort of affiliation with the store. I strongly believe they blatantly lied about the downtown drop-off just to direct us to their preferred shopping location.

  Mar 21, 2025