Nice Place but very rude an unpleasant staff

Where do I start. Well this was our first time in the Dominican and definitely our last. Ocean El Faro is a big resort and very clean and nice place. The thing that gives it a bad reputation is the staff. We got there on the bus and tour guide gave us the nicest welcome. As soon as we got to the hotel the staff was just rude and stuck up like they were better than us. This was shocking because we have travelled all over the world and have never been treated like this by hotel staff and on top of [... read more] this we were tipping daily and generously which made me more pissed off because we did not have to tip but we did it out of the kindness of our hearts. Mostly every employee we interacted with could not understand nor speak English making it very hard to order drinks or food. The waitresses at the buffet would give my wife attitude just for asking for a cup of coffee at breakfast or even for dinner asking for a drink. This kind of behavior was very un called for especially the amount of money we paid for this trip. The snack bar was just disgusting as all they served every single day was hotdogs and hamburgers on stale bread. The food was not the best. We got to the buffet when they just opened and the some of the food was already cold. The breakfast buffet was ok but still some cold food. The restaurants that needs reservations are a huge rip off due to if you don't pick the privilege package its very hard or impossible to get a reservation due to you can only book from 8am whiles the privilege package, they could book anytime which is why all the spots gets booked. This is very unfair because people paid big money to stay at this hotel and could not get a reservation at a restaurant to get a decent meal. The biggest Con at this hotel is the gift shop. This is beyond highway robbery. Due to Air Canada losing one of our bags I had to purchase some things for my son and myself and one small swim shorts for my 6 year old son cost $45 US dollars, one toothbrush $8 US dollars and for the lazy river you have to buy your own tube at the gift shop which is the biggest Con and they sell from $45-$100 US dollars. Just the biggest money making Con I have ever seen. Another scam is when you arrive at the hotel there are staff in white shirts trying to get you to join a premium travel club which we did fall for and paid $2650 US to join with an upgraded wrist band and promises like mini bar stocked up with premium drinks and concierge service to book restaurant reservations and when we paid and all was done non of it never happened, so we decided before the 24 hours to cancel and the manager in charge of that division was a very rude woman and tried yelling at us saying that we got the upgrades in which we had proof and showed her we did not. The saddest part this trip was for my sons 7 year old birthday June 24th 2023 and they promised us a small cake and that never happened. If I had known they were this horrible especially to a kid celebrating his birthday at Ocean El Faro I would have just paid for it but they offered us this when we joined the Premium Travel club. I must say This was by far the worst resort we have ever been too and will not visit Dominican Republic ever again. My advise to whoever views this review, watch out for these Con artist and prepare to get terrible service and mediocre food for the price it costs for this place. This was just a waste of money and very much regret going there.

Good vacation if you purchase privilege class

Good hotel and food options if you can get a reservation. Restaurants are hard to book and can be frustrating to arrange as it takes alot of negotiation and waiting in lines to get a reservation or waiting in line for first come first served. I would say don't waste your valuable vacation time doing this but the buffet gets repetitive and a change of restaurants is appreciated. The only option you should consider here or any h10 ocean chain resorts is their privilege class. If you came f [... read more]or an all inclusive with no stress, then don't book a non-privilege vacation and feel like a second class citizen being denied restaurant bookings and what they think is top tier liquor.

Really nice resort

rooms were nice, all public areas were good and clean. the food was good. never went hungry. didn't spend anytime on the beach but the pool and staff were amazing! the shows were a little late but good. there was always something to do and the lazy river was amazing!

Good resort Great people

It was a fun and big resort for family. Restaurant reservations are brutal (line up at 5 to get a spot in line to eat 2 hours later), buffet was okay. Pools were awesome, beach is awful but if you go off the resort to the left, the lagoon is beautiful. Entertainment was great, beach party was amazing. There is a baseball field just off the resort in front, bring some baseball gloves for the kids playing there and watch them play! Very talented. The people at the resort made it so much bette [... read more]r. Very friendly

Beautiful building, slow staff

We just came back April 22, 2023. The lobby is gigantic. Beautifully designed, rooms clean, food ok ( tasty but not many options). Washrooms clean and everywhere. Staff don't seem happy, service very slow. I believe they're understaffed. To reserve a restaurant, you need to line up to book same day which meant we were only able to book 2 restaurants out of 5 I think. To improve that, we need to be able to book via app, front desk, or pre book in advance for another day.

Could be so much more

The resort is nice, pools are awesome but the beach is less than desirable. The service seemed way understaffed for a resort of that size. You have to wake up at 430am to get in line to make a reservation at sulfurs their Japanese restaurant to maybe get a seat when they come at 7am. All the other restaurants you have to start lining up at 5pm for when they open at 6pm to hopefully get a table just to show up at your reserved time to find every restaurant half empty “due to them supposedly  [... read more]only being able to seat at 50% capacity” their bartenders are very slow and do not like to acknowledge children. The resort could be so much better if they staffed it appropriately for its size. I do not feel this being a 5* resort but maybe a 2*

Fun in the Sun

The hotel was clean, pools were clean. The lazy river was fun. The water park looks great for kids. I think they are having staffing issues. The restaurants(except buffets)were only half filled so getting in wasn't fun. I guess they changed their reservation process. There is no online booking. Had to stand in line early. Sometimes still only ate at 730pm or later. Ala Cartes open at 6pm. Seaweed is a problem and the beach has rocks on the shoreline. Nature is beautiful but if you like to swim  [... read more]at the beach that might be a problem. Overall it was still a good trip.

Would book again!

The hotel is beautiful and the staff is super friendly. The rooms were very clean and the staff always left us extra bottles of water, pop and beer when requested. The food was pretty decent. My 11 year old son struggled but he is picky. But he never went hungry. We really enjoyed the Italian restaurant, Steakhouse and Japanese a la carte's. The pool bar staff was so fun and friendly and made whatever you requested. We had a great vacation!!! If you spend the majority of your time in the pool, r [... read more]equest building 2, it is a perfect spot and close to the buffet, sports bars and entertainment. The beach is not great, but there is a nice lagoon right off to the side that was stunning!

Very large resort !

Grounds were very well maintained, room was nice, drinks were good, food average. Loved the lazy river. Was very surprised how busy the resort was and how many kids, the “quiet” preferred pool was full of kids playing, throwing balls etc could not relax in pool. Beach area was nice view but beach not walkable or able to swim in ocean. Service was slow. Having privilege was well worth having a butler to take care of dinner bookings and any other issues you may have had, also privilege restaur [... read more]ant at beach was much better service and great view of beach.

Beautiful Resort!

Everything was awesome , not so happy with Sun-wing guite a delay coming back , never knew when we was and what time we would get a update? They was 19 in our group . First time at this Resort! People was so friendly, the rooms was so clean and the grounds were so nice.

Buyer beware

From the minter got there the service, people’s attitude were red flags to us. Be aware of the imitation cigars (not what they say they are) and jewelry that they claim is worth hundreds of US $$. Service to get our bags to the room over 1 hour. Restaurants hit and miss. Your food might be cooked?? Get up at 5 am to reserve your pool chairs and then again line up at 7 am to reserve the Sukura restaurant if you want to eat there before you leave.

Great staff can be great hotel

Like most reviews beautiful hotel clean but complete lack of chairs by pool and beach nobody likes getting up in the middle of the night to reserve chairs and restaurant booking with app is completely ridiculous must be done at 7 am no relaxation for holidays will not go back

Ocean ElFaro

Thus resort is amazing. Grounds are beautiful, staff is wonderful and food for the most part was good. Steakhouse needs a little attention...portions were way too small. The app for booking restaurants is horrible; it needs updating in the worst way. No one should have to wake at 6am in order to line up to reserve a table for dinner while on vacation. Someone should take all towels off the loungers at night in order to give all a chance to get a lounger. Entertainment staff were absolu [... read more]tely amazing particularly Johan! Miguel the bell boy was also amazing. Overall, once we got our proper rooms (3 out of 4 were wrong) it was a fantastic vacation. More washrooms are needed by the pools!

Nice Resort!

This hotel was very clean. Always taking care of the grounds and the public area. Our rooms were huge and the maid service was good. The food was a bit cold at the buffet. It was hard to book at the restaurants, but the food was excellent. Improvement could be made at the snack bars by the pools, the food was left outside in the heat and not covered. It is a huge resort and their could be more shuttles. The front desk could be more efficient ,we arrived late late at night, 1:30 and they told u [... read more]s on our own to find our room, we were told go straight out the front door if you hit the water you have gone too far. Nice! Our luggage was delivered an hour and half later. Beware when booking trips,we booked through our Air Transat Rep at the hotel, the Catalina Island tour was the worst excursion ever. Do not recommend..... At this resort they were always trying to sell you time shares .(People in white shirts).

Good resort

We booked privilege and well worth the money. The resort is clean, party pool is entertaining, staff is very friendly and helpful. Loved our roof top room. The only complaint is that it is very windy. I’m not a beach person but I do like to walk the beach. Went down a couple of times and felt like we were getting pelted by the sand blowing. Other then that it was a lovely resort.

Amazing Vacation

The hotel had a lot to do. The beach was very wavy and had some rocks BUT there was a cove just north of the property that was sandy and had gentle waves. The lighthouse had breathtaking views of the area.

Great Resort

Everything was clean and beautiful. Staff were great and grounds were amazing. The gym was small but perfect for what you want to do on vacation. You could always find something you really enjoyed at the buffet and the restaurants were great too. No complaints

Not recommend

This hotel is very large lots of walking. The shuttle buses far and few between so dont wait for one then they dont show up. Then there is maid service well 3 days no maid service no towels no garbage emptied no fridge fill up with water. Now trying to get a ala cart restaurant was impossible you had to book online at 7am by 702 everything was booked figure that one out or they only had 1 seat left. Stayed in the adult section the restaurant there was the same food for lunch and dinner. The bea [... read more]ch was a disappointment rocky and weedy couldn't find a empty chair at 8am. The drinks were watered down. I would not recommend this hotel go somewhere else.

Great resort

The resort is clean and well laid out. Everything is central in 1 area. The trolly system is a great addition to get from one end of the property to the other. Washrooms were clean, but could use more frequent attention during busy times. As most days they were short on supplies. The a la carte system could use some tweaking, it's not convenient to be up at 7am to book the day of and either not getting in or having to wait until 9:30 for dinner. The bar and restaurant staff along with th [... read more]e reception staff and housekeeping staff were amazing! Bowling on site and the Lazy River were great features for all to enjoy. The water park was centrally located, although we didn't have kids. The rooms are clean and tended to daily. The security on site was our biggest complaint - they have us an uneasy feeling, since they don't speak when looking to see what your doing early in the morning. We noticed 1 security in the evening hiding things in the bushes - which he was hiding from other staff. And another that we addressed when we spotted him watching guests in their room from behind the bushes. All that said, I would return. Your vacation is what you make of it. Just be aware of your surroundings- as you would anywhere you stay.

Family resort

Ocean el Faro is fairly large resort catering to families. Lots of nice pools , water park and lazy river. Grounds are well maintained. All restaurants have nice outdoor patios which was important to us during Covid. However nobody wears masks any more and I didn’t see anybody sanitizing anything. The beach is definitely not a Bavaro Beach however it was nice especially part on the side of El Besso , adults only part of the hotel. Food was average but lots of restaurants and snack bar. Beac [... read more]h loungers need to be replaced, most of them tired and old even in the privilege section. Privilege lounge basically doesn’t exists…nothing special. Butler service very good, good way to communicate with all parts of the hotel. Overall service was fine, beach concierge in the privilege section very good. Hotel has a beautiful Lobby and Piano Bar for evening drinks and some music. Rooms are nice and spacious.