Ocean Blue & Sand - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

20339 reviews

• 

  It was a good stay until...

  Upon arriving, the lobby was very clean and inviting. The room was clean too. We never had any creatures entering the room despite the area being all air-open. The staff was great. If you care to talk a little bit with them, you can make good friends for the duration of the stay. We were able to get specialty cocktails only known by the bartender. They try to understand english, but if you talk too much it's clear that they lose you. Prefer spanish or keep your english plain simple. Some staff are also speaking french very well too. One not so great thing is that the maid is sometime taking a full day to make the room. There is staff people entering the room all day to do all kind of tasks. We didn't had washclothes in our room. Even when we let a good tip on the table with a note, the money was gone and we never had what we asked for. My parents always had fresh ones every day though. Now the awful thing. The keys to enter the rooms are programmed electronically upon check-in. On our last day, we were sleeping and at 5am, a couple of travelers tried to unlock our door with their key. They could have entered if we didn't lock the door with the lock bolt. I was asleep and thought it was a maid, so I didn't bother waking up. When they realized there was a problem with their key, they called a security guy that also tried to came in the room, then I got up and opened the door. The situation got resolved quickly but we didn't wanted to let our stuff in the room knowing maybe someone was having a double key of our room. Bottom of story, always lock the door.

  Jan 07, 2025
• 

  Really nice, but...

  These comments seem to echo a lot of recent reviews. Check in process – slow. There was confusion in our booking that really slowed the process down but we were able to eat at the buffet during the wait. There is poor communication between the different groups of workers (yellow shirts/white shirts). Dining - Main buffet – lot of food options/lots of ethnic food options along with pizza/burgers - Mike’s Café – very good, wish it opened before 7:30/typically a long line - Steakhouse – best food - Hibachi – great food/great service - Route 66 – average/they feature milkshakes but were out of chocolate and vanilla upon opening - Italian – went there on New Years Eve but they didn’t have normal menu (served special menu at all restaurants). NYE was a complete nightmare with booking reservations. - Mexican – didn’t go to, but heard from someone else that it was average - Villa Marina (dinner) – average food but great view - Villa Marina (breakfast) – same as buffet but slow service - Villa Marina (lunch) – great lunch buffet option close to beach/pool - Sports Bar – nice to grab a beer and watch a game before or after dinner Privilege - Having a personal butler (Harry) didn’t benefit us; poor communication and didn’t actually do anything for us. He would be a very good car salesman, talks a good game but didn’t do anything. Would reach out and see how things were going and then no follow through. - Having a separate section next to pool wasn’t a big benefit - Being able to book reservations online was a big benefit; non-privilege folks have to wait in line every morning to book dinner reservations, very poor system - Having access to the beach cabanas is a nice perk but they’re usually reserved very early - Having a stocked fridge in room with water/soft drinks was a benefit. This was great. Always stocked with bottled water and soft drinks. If you do not have anyone in your party that wakes up before 8am, you will not have chairs at the beach or pool. There are signs that say reserving seats isn’t allowed but everyone does it. Pool chairs generally get reserved between 6-8am. Cabanas get reserved at all hours. I was up early 1 morning and noticed a front-row cabana with a few towels on it, so I just moved the towels and sat in the cabana. I had an awkward conversation with a worker that came by later and I got the sense the cabana was “reserved” (meaning they paid for it) by someone else and I refused to move. The rooms were clean, spacious and quiet, but 1 of our rooms wouldn’t go below 25 degrees Celsius (~78 Fahrenheit); we complained multiple times to various people including our butler and were told it would be fixed but it never got fixed. Pools and beach were in good condition. Having the running shuttles taking people around the hotel grounds was a nice benefit. My recommendation is don’t pay for the privilege and instead just tip your way into everything. The workers will treat you better/give you perks for tips. You don’t need a butler because they don’t do anything anyway. We did do an excursion to the Scape Park; we highly recommend that. Communication by the excursion rep wasn’t great; we were given an incorrect time on when we would be picked up from the park so you need to ask a lot of questions.

  Jan 06, 2025
• 

  We had an incredible time on our vacation!

  We had the most amazing stay for our vacation at Ocean Blue and Sand. Our butler Harry made us feel welcomed and appreciated throughout our entire stay. He was always reachable if we needed anything and took care of making our reservations for us. Between his service, the rest of the staff, and the beautiful resort, we had a perfect relaxing vacation and cannot wait to come back again!

  Jan 05, 2025
• 

  Good resort but beware of Privilege...

  Our experience almost matched the experience of previous reviewer. We stayed for New years in Privilege building 6. We had 2 rooms for 5 of us and the rooms were clean and well kept. We had the pool view rooms and it was nice for people watching. The grounds were kept spotless. Must say one of the cleanest resorts I have been to. The food was decent and I actually thought the drinks were pretty strong could taste alcohol for sure. Staff was nice and attentive. Overall I would give this resort 4+ but what brought it down to 3 - is our Privilege experience. Our butler (Harry) was basically non existent. Took us 2 days to chase him to try to get a reservation and eventually I booked through the app even though it wouldn't let me book for 5 because we had 2 rooms and somehow the other room was under my son even though the whole reservation should be under my name. We asked for some plantain chips and he delivered 2 days later with remark that they are only complimentary on arrival. I could live without Harry but what really make this experience bitter was the bali beds on the beach. I did get one every day only because I'm an early riser and was there at 5am. If you want to get the front row and don't want to bribe attendant then forget it. I watched the same people in the same beds for 5 days. I have been told if you want the front row come at midnight. We stopped by after new years celebration at 12:05 all taken, stop by at 9 pm all taken. I have been told by other guest who witnessed attendant putting towels, floaties and kids toys on beds to reserve them. Privilege is all about little perks but mostly service. Eventually I will forget what my room looked like or if the drinks were strong but will remember the waiter in breakfast restaurant who by day 2 remember my coffee preference and definitely will remember the angry feeling seeing the preferential treatment for some people who bribe the beach attendant. My advice to people is go to this resort but don't bother with Privilege. I would have definitely enjoyed this resort more if we weren't Privileged.

  Jan 05, 2025
• 

  Good Vacation - would not return to this resort

  This is a brutally honest review, the good and the bad. I understand we visited during the busiest time of year (between Christmas and new years)and the resort was at max it was also super expensive because of the time of year. We booked a privilege Junior suite - 2 adults, 2 teenagers. Check in was a nightmare. Somehow, they had 2 other persons in place of myself and son listed on our reservation, and they couldn't figure out how that happened, and it took an hour to get it straightened out and checked in. Upon getting to our room, we ordered room service because it was 5:00. Because our reservation was screwed up, the app was messed up the food went to another room. So I had to go back down to check in and get that fixed. Another half hour. The room was good, no complaints. Comfy beds, even the sofa bed was fine. Clean, good air-conditioning, We were in Bldg 10, 2nd floor. It overlooked the service road (ew) but we only showered and slept in the room so that was fine, We messaged the butler (Harry)) through Whats App, no answer. We went to check out the resort and went to the privilege lounge and by mistake ran into our butler. He apologized for not getting back to us. I don't know if we ever would have heard from him if we did not run into him. Frankly, he was completely useless. The butler's can make your dinner reservation, but if you are privilege you can make your own reservation on the app. They are supposed to refill your mini bar, he did it once, the next day. I asked for plantain chips, he brough them three days later. He never tried to find us, we were by the pool every single day. He really did nothing. The pool attendant Carlos Charles was amazing, He always assisted getting us chairs at the pool, he was really friendly and attentive. He took orders for pool snacks in the afternoon and sent servers to get us drinks if we wanted. I cannot say enough great things about him Sadly lounge chairs are heard to come by if you don't get there at the crack of dawn and "reserve" them with a towel or other objects. Same nonsense that happens at every resort. But Carlos helped us. It's my vacation, and I don't want to get up at 7:00 am for a chair. We tipped him well. The beach chairs/bali beds is a whole other story. Do not plan on getting a bali bed unless you go pay off the beach attendant the day before and go between midnite and 4:30 a.m. to leave stuff on your bed. Its unreal. We looked at midnite and half the beds had stuff on them to "reserve" them. This situation really bothered me, as the same families had the same beds all throughout our stay. They definitely need a new system for this. Or be prepared to pay off the guy and leave stuff out super super early or overnight. The food was good, we enjoyed all of our meals at buffet, sensai, italian, mexican and privilege. The staff at the restaurants were great. Could be more variety for lunch, but not a biggie. The drinks are so watered down LOL. IDK what you do about that. The pool bartenders are OK, not good or bad. They expect tips. They seem to have an attitude that you tip me, I will treat you well, whereas I prefer you treat me well, I will tip you. The lobby bartenders were great. The nightly entertainment was fun, usually a show and them dancing with the DJ. Even my teenage kids enjoyed it and danced, The NYE celebration was fantastic and so was the white beach party. We tried to bowl once or twice but it was long wait so we skipped it. The daytime entertainment was fun enough, pool aerobics was great. The games in the afternoon were fun to watch. The entertainment team was fun. Most workers do not speak alot of English, and USA was definitely in the majority so English wasn't a high priority. The vendors that come and set up stands are very pushy. There is no Jacuzzi. The pool water is NOT heated. It is cold when you get in, you get used to it. The ocean was warmer than the pool, but alot of seaweed. We used Francis at Impulse Destinations for private transportation and he was excellent. Timely, professional, reasonable. We did not do any excursions. We had a great vacation, but i would not return to this resort. I think there are better resorts out there.

  Jan 03, 2025