Ocean El Faro El Beso, Punta Cana

El Beso side of the resort is amazing! Loved it.

My husband and I stayed May 8th to 15th on the El Beso side of the resort. We loved every minute of it. Booked Sunwing via itravel2000.com. All the info we needed was provided to us for the flights on WestJet and the hotel. They make it very easy to travel. Upon our arrival to the hotel, we were greeted by very friendly bell hops who took our luggage and tagged it while we checked in. Our luggage would be delivered to our room later which was nice. We were assigned room 11312. Everything was perfect in the room. Bathrobes and slippers on the bed. A lovely towel swan with flowers decorating it. Double sinks and double shower. Toilet enclosed on the opposite side of the bathroom. Nothing smelled bad or moldy like other's have complained about. On the balcony, we loved the swing chair. The hotel room exceeded our expectations. Housekeeping started off strong. First day, our room got cleaned at 9am. But each day that passed, the maid came later and later and did not do as good a good as the previous day. Never got replacement wash clothes for use in the shower for the shower gel. Hand towels first couple of days and then none. Bath towel count varied from 2 to 4 per day. The last day we didn't even get housekeeping all day till we were getting ready for dinner at 4:30pm when she knocked on the door and we felt it was too late. And it wasn't for a lack of tipping. We were leaving her money on the dresser hoping for better but it never got better. The guy who fills the mini fridge- excellent. It was done everyday early. Lots of water, beer, and soda. Make sure to tip this guy- leave a couple of bucks inside the fridge for him. We had no trouble making reservations for the a la carte restaurants. We went to the Steak House twice (highly recommend the filet mignon), Sakura (what a great show), and Dolce Vita (highly recommend the Chicken parm). Pez Dama has an excellent breakfast buffet, but we weren't thrilled with the a la carte lunch and dinner menus. Margarita was very tasty for fajitas . Route 66 was awesome, especially the milk shakes. Never got into Blue Moon or Villa Marina- wait times were too long. El Mercado, the general buffet has very good food and lots of options. The problem is the front of the house wait staff clearing off tables and resetting them for new guests. The dining room was a dirty mess and we quickly learned to avoid it. The El Mercado dining room is one area that the hotel could improve on. Mike's Coffee was very good but sometimes had long lineups. Should be more than 2 ladies working the counter in the evenings. I would recommend the Cuban Coffee and the peanut butter and chocolate muffins. The ice cream shop had a good variety of flavors and toppings. Ocean Burger ended up being our lunch of choice most days. Easy to grab a hamburger, slap some toppings on it and bring it back to El Beso. We tried the El Beso snack bar for the crepes and I have to say its ho hum. I wished they had had sandwiches available. They have all the fillings so adding some buns or bread to the menu for sandwiches wouldn't be outrageous. Overall, food wise, we enjoyed the variety and appreciated all the beef, pork and chicken options. We aren't seafood people so I can't comment on that aspect of the menus. The adult party pool and the Blue Team staff were the highlights of our day. You do have to get up at 6am to claim a sun bed. The early bird catches the worm so I would set my alarm for 6am and go dump all our stuff on the bed to claim it. We were out by the pool by 8-9am waiting for the pool car to open at 10am and entertainment to start at 11am. Every morning the Blue Team offers one competitive game for guests. My husband and I won 3 bags of coffee over the course of our week. Happy about that because it made forgetting our tooth brushes and toothpaste at home easier to swallow the gift shops prices for tooth brushes($5 US each) and toothpaste($6). Speaking of gift shop, its all in US dollars and way over priced. Not impressed with the price gauging. They had a "special" of 2 bags of Lays chips or Doritos for $20 US. $14 US for a tall can of Pringles. So if you can't survive without potato chips or Doritos, be prepared to over pay or pack your own in your suitcase. Regarding the beach, it is as people have already reviewed. The lagoon is nice. There is a rocky bit. There is sandy flat part. We aren't beach people so we didn't care and didn't spend more than an hour there our whole trip. Soooo, the question is now Would we come back to El Beso Adults Only? And the answer is a definite yes. Actually, we are already thinking of returning in November or December of this year. Would we ever book the regular family side El Faro? Absolutely not. Whenever we went over the family side, it was chaotic with children everywhere. Not our cuppa tea. But if you are a family with kids, I am sure it would be right up your alley. Remember that no resort is perfect. The enjoyment of your vacation ultimately is up to you so don't let little things wreck your time.

Overall great vacation, we ignored the negative reviews and took a chance!

Despite the negative reviews, I decided to chance the positive ones and Im glad I did, we had a fantastic vacation! Upon arrival our luggage was collected we were given a card that matched the number on the tag they put on our luggage and it was delivered to our room about 15 minutes after we got there. Check in and check out was both a smooth process. The resort offers many day and night activities and entertainment for all ages. The pools and lazy river were clean and enjoyable. Bartenders throughout were very friendly and quick service, with great drink recommendations. The beach was red flagged every day we were there due to high winds and rough seas, but the lagoon to the left of the main beach was perfect and few people! Food was great and no complaint with the restaurants. Tipping goes a long way for all services, the employees appreciate it and you get great service; many people had USD and many had the Dominican Peso, both were accepted without issue, just be sure to know the exchange rate, we took pesos as converting to USD from CAD was a loss. All in all, this resort is lovely for any age, and we hope to take our daughter here in the future! Extended version: Privilege: We upgraded to privilege upon arrival for an additional cost, I negotiated to get it lower than the original price. This gave us a butler who was available anytime of day to help, we met on the first day (and saw him every day we were there) and he booked the restaurants we wanted so there was no hassle, no rush, trying to book the same time as everyone else at 8am the day of (this was one of the few benefits in my opinion). There was always seating in the privilege section at the El Mercado buffet so we were able to bypass any line up waiting for a table in the general area. There is a privilege lounge for members to dine, I didnt enjoy this, the food was better at the main square restaurants. We had access to the pool, bars, and restaurant on the El Beso side. In the privilege sections by the pool and beach, someone would tend to you. While the restaurants were nice to have all set and pre-booked, its an unnecessary and expensive upgrade for what you actually get from being privilege. I dont think I would do this upgrade again unless significantly cheaper. Food: The food overall, was great. Im a very picky eater and always found options. Dont be afraid to ask for something to be modified to better suit your taste. Our favourite restaurant was Sakura, a great show with even better food. The steakhouse was our second favourite, though was the longest wait time for food. We ate a variety of food (and larger amounts than at home), and did not have any upset stomach issues. Prior to entering the restaurants, especially the buffet, hand sanitizer was used by all. Ocean Burger by the pools & lazy river was super convenient, offered burgers, hot dogs and fries, these were always fresh & quick service; this was super convenient when grabbing something quick for lunch. I found there was more of a language barrier with servers than elsewhere at the resort; I anticipated the language barrier given that we were going to a Spanish-speaking country, so it was not a surprise nor anything negative about the trip. We often used the free 24/7 room service for privilege members, options were limited but filled the void when hungry. Room: No big issues with our spacious pool view room on ground level; we could walk right out from the patio to enjoy our day. However, we did find out half way through the stay that we actually didnt have a privilege room; I did not opt to change rooms as this wasnt an inconvenience to us, just slightly disappointing to know we spent so much. At the end of the day no big deal. The bed and pillows were comfortable, room was cleaned daily unless you deny it. The mini fridge was restocked daily and we got extra by tipping. The air conditioning is preset to 23C, so we had to keep turning it down to 16 where it was more comfortable; this shut off once the patio door was opened but immediately turned back on once closed, and again had to manually set the temperate lower. The bathroom was spacious, a door separating both the toilet and shower from the sink area; this was great for getting ready. Pools/lazy river: The pools on El Faro and El Beso side and the lazy river were all clean. Many reviews say to take your own floaties for the lazy river as they dont have a lot, this is true but if you dont mind a short 5-10 minute wait then its not an issue. There could be more shaded seating areas by the pools especially for families with children. Outside vendors/people with animals: Be sure to barter with anyone selling souvenirs. They are asking way overpriced from the worth of the item. Theres a vendor night Thursdays in the main square and one pulled us aside to his table to make a sale wanting tens of thousands of pesos when the items were only worth a very small amount; I bartered with them and got a significant discount. People bring their animals to the beach for guests to get pictures with them on our own phones, then charge an absurd amount, be sure to negotiate and stand a firm ground for what its actually worth.

Paid for airport ride :(

Beautiful place, clean and spacious rooms! Its a great place and amazing experience. Lots of alacarte restaurants options, delicious food. No mosquito or flies in this hotel. A negative experience is that they didnt offer ride to/from airport this time, we paid for taxi. The hotel staff did not offer help either. When we visited in 2020 we had full service, so it was a little frustrating to spend the extra money. It seems the rules have changed and it is not communicated at the time of booking.

Océan El faro

Excellent htel, blue team is awesome! The service at the bar is good, the food is excellent, loved everything!