Ocean Blue & Sand Beach Resort - All Inclusive

A very decent all-inclusive experience The Ocean Blue and Sand Beach Resort is a beautifully appointed resort hotel with a village- like feel to it. The colorful buildings are lining the amazingly landscaped gardens leading all the way from the lobby and restaurant area and down to the beach. The relentless effort of the gardening staff makes it an oasis wiith a distinguished Caribbean vibe. Beautiful lid at nights it offers an ideal opportunity for a romanitc stroll at night time. But beware of the flamingo. He might be wandering about and demand some respect_ Area surrounding the hotel The infrastructure around the hotel is not really developed. So, its not really a matter of going outside for a meal at a restaurant or a drink at some bar. You pretty much have to stay in the hotel for that as there is more or less zero choice, and it all looks rugged and dead, which is a big shame really. The Room The room was pretty large in size and featured pretty much what you can ask for. The bed is a king size bed and just firm enough for a good nights sleep. There was a big desk, a sitting area with a sofa and a table, a large wardrobe with one of those small and practical hotel safes and lots of drawer space for your clothes and belongings. The bathroom with two sinks and a big shower was nice and spacious. Plenty of towls and amenities were provided. A little heads-up: not being able to flush used toilet paper might feel a bit different for you Europeans out there, but it worked out allright after some getting used to. The balcony was spacious, featured two chairs and a table with a view over the lovely gardens and swimming pools. Bars and restaurant For the foodies amongst you there is a wide variety of restaurants and bars to chose from. The main buffet restaurant features a very large variety of dishes and food items and there is something for every pallet. Further, there is a steak house, a Mexican, an Italian, and a French restaurant. Still need more? Ok..then try the good old diner close to the lobby or the seaview restsurant right at the beach. There also is a seperate ice cream parlour and a coffeshop where the cappuccinos are made with love. I could go on, but wont bore you with more details. But rest assured: you will never go to bed hungry nor thirsty. Overall, food served was a good 7 out of 10. Do check out the lobby bar..the bar staff are really good at what they do and they can make about anything you ask for. They are a cheerfull bunch, always smiling and really generate some good vibes The mood at the bar at night is always really good, there is music and entertainment in the lobby and you will most likely find yourselves enjoying a few tasty drinks while endulging in this lovely Caribbean holiday atmosphere. The hotel also features its own night club. Its not very big, but if you like to show off some of your latino dance moves this is the place for you. Beach and pool bars We were here in the off-season. Because of unfavourable currents in the sea loads of seaweed is lining the beach making it nearly impossible to wade into the water, not to mention the slighly foul smell, and the noise and diesel fumes of the tractor which the workers use to remove it in an ongoing effort to clear the beach of the seaweed. The sunbeds and parasols were mostly functioning, but seemed a bit dated. At the poolbar closest to the beach there is loud music blaring for a good chunk of the day, mostly latino music, and the entertainment team is engaging the crowd in fun and games. For most Europeans, like myself, this is not a very familiar site and might be too noisy. For north americans this is the norm as absolutely most islands in the caribbean offer all-inclusive holidays to their north american customers as there isnt a lot of other choice. This holds especially true for islands like Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Entertainment There is a lot going on in terms of entertainment. There are different daily shows which you can follow in the entertainment hall. There is also an entertainment building with a bowling alley, table tennis, billiard and other games. When we were at the hotel we also saw a few singers, a «Got talent» competitiion, a silent disco and more. You will so definitely not get bored here. Service All in all service was good and friendly, but there are not all smiles. But thats okay. Its the same everywhere. The staff in the lobby bar are superbe. They are not only very professionally preparing and serving all kinds of beverages, but also entertaining the guests «hanging»around the bar, great staff with a proper good service attitiude. Remember to bring dollar notes to show your appreciation to the staff. All of them are working hard to make your stay a memorable one. Housekeeping did a good job keeping our room and bathroom clean and tidy. Make sure to leave a decent tip on departure. They deserve it! A word of advise/warning-if I may When you check in at reception you will notice quite a few staff in white shirts at the guest relations counter. They will engage with you rather sooner or later after the check-in process and offer to bring you to your room. On the way to your room they will offer to pick you up for your first breakfast on the following morning. On the way there they will ask you if you would like to join a sales session which only lasts for about an hour, they will say. It tooks us three hours. The thing is they will bring you to the sales room where professiional sales people are already awaiting you. One of them will join you for your first breakfast and asking you all kind of questions, especially about your travel habits etc. After breakfast it’s back to a table in the salesroom and one of the sales managers will join and try to sell you all kind of different options to become a member of a travel program. All of the options I found to be very expensive. Basically, they are trying to convince you to book your holidays directly through the travel program instead of booking an all-inclusive through a travel agent, as we did in Canada. During this sales process they are also taking you to show you some bigger and better rooms which are reserved for their club members to make it easier for you to decide. The cheapest deal we were offered for this membership was 7000USD. That was the last offer we got after showing our uncertainty willing to join. You will be informed that you will only get one offer and opportunity to join their travel program. I found the entire layout and all its options to be more confusing than anything else, and I doubt many customers joined there and then. It is noteworthy that the sales staff attempts to have you join their travel program rather than booking through travel/charter agencies appearently is part of a bilateral agreement betwen the hotel and the travel agencies, and thereby allowing the hotel to contact every customer once, and only once, in an effort to have them join the program instead of using afore-mentioend travel/charter agencies. One has to ask oneself if this is really the case and why travel agencies would agree to a deal which potentially is stealing their own future business. Well, I know this was a lengthy review, but I hope you bothered to read it all in order to get a good insight in what a stay at this lovely property might look like for you.

Canadian Beach Buns We 10 people spent 11 days at Ocean blue and sand Privileged We were treated like royalty, the kitchen staff Elvin and his crew Hector, Eddie Yani, and many more treated us like family. We love them dearly. We spent all our days on the beach at the tiki bar this crew waited on us like royalty, Wilmer, Carlo chevles, Jimehe, eddy and MORETZ these men are excellent! They entertained us waited on us 100% you will never find a better crew working on a beach! À la carts were good. Buffet great! Our rooms were excellent. Mike’s Café was incredible, sports bar got to watch the baseball games. We will be back to Ocean blue and sand again and again and again we love this resort we love these people. Thank you for all you’ve done for us. Looking after 10 crazy people is not an easy job. _

A Gem in the Bavaro-Punta Cana area Our beloved Ocean Blue and Sand never disappoints, they always make us feel at home. They are always working to maintain and improve the resort. The Privilege bedrooms are very spacious, beds and pillows very comfy, there's a jacuzzi and a shower, and a small fridge equipped with drinks and snacks at no extra cost. The beach is well kept and clean (no zargazo), and the beach beds on Privilege are perfect to rest under the palm trees. The resort is big enough to walk it comfortably or ride the trolleys if desired. Food is really good, the bars have a wide variety of national and international alcoholic liquors, but I'm not a drinker...I personally LOVE their specialty coffees and pastries at Mike's Coffee. I cannot end my review without mentioning some of the people who always strives to give their guests a superb service: Bellboy desk: Miguel Olea Privilege Reception: Maximo Ogando, Roselia Medina Privilege Manager: Victor Checo Privilege Butler's Manager: Thomas Newton Villa Marina Restaurant: Elvin and all his servers. Carey/Portugal Rest: Ramfis ....but everyone at this resort is very nice and welcoming, and that's the main reason me and my family always go back to the Ocean Blue and Sand. See you again❤️

Great week We had an amazing vacation. The food and drinks were good. Room was nice, bed super comfortable. The best part of our trip was the great staff. The lobby bar staff (Ramon, Theresa, Carlos, Kelvin, Francesco, and all the others made great drinks, and excellent service. At the privilege restaurant, Elvin and Wilkins always went out of their way to make sure we had everything we wanted. Daniel in the Privilege Lounge always had a great smile to greet us. Daniel de la Rosa (pool boy privilege) gave an amazing service, always smiling. Special mention to Albin, Maximo, Jose for beeing available in their busy schedule, made us feel extra special. Will go back for sure.