Ocean Riviera Paradise: Very Beautiful Resort

I enjoyed my stay at this resort, there were just a few things that I didn't love. The resort is so beautifully done, the scenery and everything makes you feel like you're actually in paradise and you can't go wrong with that. There were even monkeys walking around! There's so much to do there and you'll never run out of stuff to do. I disliked how far everything was. If you're not into walking far distances on vacation I'd advise to choose a room closer to the lobby. We stayed in Eden and wa [... read more]lking in that hot sun was not fun lol but dont worry they do have shuttle trolleys going back and forth through out the resort. It was convenient to have a few restaraunts beside us. (Pez Vela was great!) The food there in my opinion wasn't that good in my opinion.The only restaurants that was amazing to me was Bluemoon, had their herb crusted salmon and it was delicious! I tried avoiding the buffet as much as I could. Maybe if they had a change up in the chefs it would be better overall. I heard Villa Marina/Margarita was also good. Didn't get to try the ice cream or cafe but heard good things as well. The lobby was cold at times but the layout was nice with the bar in the middle. The disco was so much fun! So if you have nothing to do, head there! Lastly....if you're trying to go to the beach everyday, do not come here because its unswimmable. Too much seaweed, but we ended up doing a nice excursion to Isla Mujeres (Cancun) which is where we swam. FYI the pools are soooo much fun and make up for the beach being unswimmable! Overall I'd say it was a great stay despite the food being not 100% on our side and distance to the main areas.

Ocean Maya Royale: Great place

The entire stay was really good. The resort was excellent, the staff were super helpful and friendly. Everything was clean and well kept. Small touches like diffusers in the main lobby area with lemon grass/citronella scent to keep the mosquitoes away were noticed and appreciated. I would 100% go back to this resort and would definitely recommend to others.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: 10/10 Would Recommend! (Detailed Review)

My partner and I stayed at this resort from June 21-28th. We are in our mid/late 20’s and stayed at the El Beso Adults only section. After reading MANY reviews I was afraid that there would be many concerns once we got there – I’m happy to report that I was wrong, we do not have a single complaint and LOVED our time at this resort. Detailed description below: Check-in and Room: We arrived at the hotel around 3pm and check in went smooth. The lobby is beautiful, and smells amazing, supe [... read more]r clean and picturesque. There wasn’t a huge line and our room was ready immediately. We did have an individual try to approach us for a timeshare when we walked in, but we simply said no thanks and walked away (they didn’t follow us). Many reviews claimed that you could easily get a free upgrade – when asked about an upgrade they tried to sell us one and we declined. Overall we were happy with our room selection anyways; it was very spacious, the bed was super comfortable and overall it was very clean. They also give you a lot of pillows and the sheets smelled clean. Our room was cleaned every day and the mini bar was stocked. They only give you 2 beers and are supposed to charge you extra if you order any more, which was a bit of a shock at first but not an issue. There’s a dehumidifier in the room that needs to be emptied quite frequently (2-3x per day, the rooms get humid in the summer), but having the dehumidifier took a lot of the moisture out of the air. They give you 4 water bottles a day, but we would call down to the front desk and they would deliver more to our room within 30 mins. Pool: The adult pool is noisy as there is loud music during the day and adult activities every day. Reps from Coco Bongo seemed to sponsor every pool activity here (foam party, pink party, etc.), but it simply added to the fun atmosphere. With that being said, we were still able to relax on floaties (which we brought from home) and enjoy a variety of drinks. Side note – they have an air compressor and will blow up your floatie for you by the pool at the towel hut!! We were always able to find a lounge chair at this pool, though the pool bar can get quite busy. Overall, a fun pool with a water volleyball net and lots of room for lounging, playing, and chilling. There is also another large pool (family friendly) and a kids waterpark, but we didn’t venture into those. Beach: The beach does have seaweed but this is not the resorts fault – this is a problem with the area that all resorts are encountering (do a quick google search). So don’t be disappointed if this isn’t the picturesque beach you are envisioning, that’s just not the case right now for many resorts. They have workers diligently working every day to remove it, but they can only do so much. We went for a beach walk and the next resort down has a spot that is pretty well marked off so that you can swim in without being touched by the seaweed. We dipped our feet in the ocean, but prefer to swim in the clear pools anyways, so it wasn’t an issue for us. The seaweed does have a sulfur smell to it at times, but it really wasn’t that noticeable. There is an amazing place to get a massage just a minute walk from the Ocean Riviera beach on the right hand side. It’s called the Selvamar Beach Club and they offer 1 hour beachside massages for $30 USD which is an incredible deal. We were definitely skeptical of the quality of the massage as the price was so cheap, but wow are we ever glad that we went! They have quite a few massage tables set up directly on the beach under a shaded hut so you are outside, listening to the ocean waves while being cooled down by the breeze without the sun on your back. The massage was outstanding, I just wish I relaxed more and wasn’t so caught up in thinking “what if this is all a scam” because it felt too good to be true. They use a lot of lotion and this eucalyptus cooling mist which smells delicious so you are left feeling pampered and relaxed. We went during our second day there as we didn’t want to be burnt going into it, a smart call for sure! Food: The food was amazing. We both felt great throughout the entire trip and didn’t feel sick from the food once (as is what happens at many resorts we have previously been at). For lunch we always would have the wood oven pizza by the beach (I swear it tastes just like Pizza Pizza here in Canada, just with thin crust!!) We often had the home made crepes by the Eden pool which were delicious (worth the wait if there is a line). Breakfast we mainly had at the buffet which had many options (the pastries were always fresh and the chocolate muffin was our favourite). There is a restaurant for breakfast (Bluemoon), but we didn’t find it was too good. Mike’s coffee offered amazing drinks and their frappes are equivalent to Starbucks’. We preferred to do the specialty restaurants over the buffet at dinner. We tried out the Route 66 (American), the Steak House, Italian, and the Japanese (our favourite). This is the only restaurant that requires a reservation (they start taking reservations every day at 1130am, we lined up at 10:45 and were the second ones in line. By 11:10 the line is quite long). Many reviews stated that they had to wait long for entry inside the restaurants. This was not the case. At the buffet there may be a small line as they require your name and room number but this line always moved fast. At the individual restaurants if there was a wait they would tell you and give you a buzzer. This was fine as we often went to go for a quick drink and walk before being called in. Overall: Every night there is something to do. We did not attend the shows even though they have positive reviews – the theatre is quite big and has movie-like seating with a pretty large capacity (not sure the exact number of seats, but there’s a lot). We went bowling every night and even tried out the batting cages and basketball court. Overall we would definitely recommend this hotel.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Great Stay!

Rooms and food were great, drinks and pool were very nice! Night life was amazing. Only issue was ocean (could not go into due to extensive seaweed). It was also a far walk to get to the restaurants from the pools and the rooms. Would have been nice to have more of a snack bar by the pools.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: What happened??

We previously stayed at this resort in February 2013. Our stay was great and we gave it a five star rating. Based on our previous experience, we returned and extended the invitation to family. There were a total of nine of us occupying four rooms in blocks 21 and 31. We stayed from June 15 to June 22. Our stay this time was extremely disappointing. We had numerous issues with all of the rooms. The facility was neglected and in need of serious serious repair. During our previous stay the food  [... read more]was quite good for Cuban standards. This time, for the first few days the food was sparse and unappealing. They were constantly running out of main staple items. By mid week the food selection and availability improved as the hotel occupancy increased as well as the presence of the manager due to an inspection. The pool was dirty. The beach chairs were old, dirty, torn and in some instances had evidence of mold. The lobby and all restaurants had the roof leaking during rain storms. The auditorium chairs were broken and ripped. Service was mediocre at best. The maid service was terrible with arguments over towels and letting us into rooms when our keys didn’t work On a daily basis at least one or more of the rooms had issues with keys deactivating requiring several visits to the lobby to obtain new keys. Overall, our experience this time was disappointing and we will not be returning to this hotel or the Varadero area.

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: Relaxing Time

The hotel was clean and the staff were (for the most part) helpful and friendly. We found Jose at the check-in desk great, as well as Ever & Edna in the dining room and Gustavo at the pool bar. The beach is still providing a display of sea weed, but the hotel is doing its best to remove it as best they can.

Ocean El Faro: Ocean El Faro Punta Cana

Everything about this resort was perfect, very well laid out, friendly staff, great food and amazing amenities. We were upgraded to a pool view which I highly recommend. The only con was that the rooms were damp as it appears the air conditioning had a hard time keeping up with the humidity. Other than that I highly recommend this resort, the best one we have been to yet.

Playa Vista Azul: All we hoped it would be

The rooms were clean, the ocean and beach were gorgeous, the pool area was amazing. The food was also very good. Would be happy to return. The staff was very helpful and kind. The pool and snack bar were also excellent

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: I will never return to this hotel again !

-Staff is rude not helpful at all . -Rooms are dirty our maid never changed our towels , our mini bar was never stocked it was a hassle just to get bottled water in the room also had the same situation with the toilet paper . We had to move rooms bc we had a cockroach in our room the first night . The pool area was dirty plastic cups everywhere even in the pool no staff was ever bothered to pick anything up . The buffet didn’t have anything sele [... read more]ction and was always running out of food. The supposed snack bar they call it only served ham cheese sandwich and they would always run out of the fries . The only good thing about this trip was the beach. Do yourself a favour save your money and go some where else. I will never return to this hotel that’s how bad this experience was.

Playa Vista Azul: Awesome Resort!!

My sister and I were at this resort from June 10th to 15th. We absolutely Loved it! The Resort is beautiful, very clean, the staff were super friendly, the food was great, and the beach was beautiful! We were a little bit hesitant to choose this place because we thought the beach would be rocky, but they have a beach on both sides of the resort. The beach to the right is big, sandy and gorgeous! We did the aquafit and dance lessons on the beach and it was really fun. Mike's Coffee house is a ni [... read more]ce added bonus. Cuban Coffee is amazing! We really enjoyed the buffet. There was a big selection. The beef was my favorite. Very flavorful and tender. Their bread was amazing too! I must say that this is the best resort I have been to and I can't wait to return!!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: average resort

We enjoyed our stay in this resort but this is not a 5 start resort more like 3/2 star the service was not the greatest we always had to get the waiters attention to be served. We liked the room we stayed in I have to say very clean, the food was very bad in the buffet I have to say we only liked the food that you had to reserve a night before for the restaurants. that had menu. I have to say the beach was amazing in my opinion better then dominican Republic or Mexico. Overall in my opinion this [... read more] resort is average. Would I be back? maybe not even though I like Cuba very much maybe in a couple of years but I'll try a different resort. My next trip is Panama or Costa Rica I can't wait!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Never again!

The pool area was not cleaned it was always littered with other plastic cups. We had a visitor one night.. a cockroach, issues with toilets in multiple rooms, our maid never changed our towels instead they were folded and put away. Sometimes placed on balcony to dry rather than replaced with new towels. The service was not great by no means was this a 5 star resort. The food was always the same thing. No food for children other than pasta and pizza at just one lunch. Long lines to wait for foo [... read more]d to find out they were out of various things. The disco was closed the mosquitoes were terrible some of the fans were not working ... etc etc

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Amazing

This resort was very good, the bed was comfortable comparing to other resorts. The room had a whirlpool instead of just a plain bathtub which was good and it worked perfectly but we wished we would have had an actual shower head that is on the wall instead of a handheld. The room was very spacious and kept very clean by the maids, we really appreciated that, plus Yaritza (the maid) did an excellent job cleaning, she was very courteous and very friendly. The grounds outside were kept very clean.  [... read more]The buffet was very good comparing to other resorts we have gone. The waiters/ waitresses went beyond to make us feel comfortable and relaxed. The a la carte were excellent which we had one every night. We had an excellent time!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great beach/friendly staff

The overall resort was nice but a little TLC and repairs are needed. Chipped tiles in the pool, peeling paint (normal wear and tear items). The food was good - we were always able to find something to eat and the staff were so kind. The beach was the best we’ve been to in Cuba - soft white sand, clean and calm crystal water. Our room was well cared for and cleaned daily, we requested a king bed (as a married couple) but received 2 doubles - not ideal. Great big shower in bathroom. Loved the  [... read more]coffee shop on site. The only negative was that some areas/bars/food were advertised as 24 hrs but it was not and staff didn’t seem to care (despite it being listed on all of their paperwork). Not a lot of children (we had a baby with us) which was ok for us and not a place for young adults to party. More of a relaxing vacation spot.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Good experience!

An overall good experience. The resort staff is amazing. The plus wad the internet available in the room( 7 hours included) Make internet included! But I recommend for the resort management to take bold action toward maintenance. For now is good( the room are for example excellent) but without maintenance in two years this hotel could became two star hotel. The food was very good( but repetitive 80%)

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Fantastic place!

My husband and I went here for our honeymoon and we loved this place! The food was delicious! The staff was very helpful and professional. The only downside was that the beach had a lot of seaweed. They worked really hard to clear the beach everyday, but there was still seaweed everywhere.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great vacation

We really enjoyed our stay. Amazing beach, good pool, friendly staff and fantastic coffee. We loved being able to eat at the al a cartes every night because it kept the buffet from getting too repetitive.

Playa Vista Azul: Amazing

We had an amazing trip to Ocean Vista Azul. It was our first time to Cuba and our expectations were blown away from service to food. The pool bar was a lot of fun, Yosi, Yeni! Mayrelia and Livia made great drinks. We will be returning in the future.

Ocean El Faro: Very nice resort!

Something to do for everyone! We really enjoyed our stay at Ocean El Faro recently. Food and service were excellent! Disappointed that route 66 is not open for dinner. Beach is beautiful however not comparable to other punta cana resorts.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Lovely Resort but had one issue, yet to be resolved

Our first impressions upon arrival were that it was a nice new resort but everything was situated fairly close together. It has a long narrow design with just one pool close to the beach. I thought there was at least one designated adult only pool but each one we visited had children. Our room was nice, clean and cool but the bed was on the hard side and the wooden frame around it made lots of noise getting in and out or if you turned over. I love the basket chair on the balcony. The hotel has  [... read more]lots of lovely friendly staff working hard to keep things clean and to provide great service. The food at the Steak restaurant wasn't our favorite (MahiMahi very tough) but we loved the food at the buffet (amazing variety each meal) and we loved the food at the 'Blue Moon'. We really enjoyed watching the Raptor playoff games in the sports bar and loved the coffee shop (busy all day!). On day four of our 7 day vacation my husband contracted an intestinal infection from the food. The hotel doctor came to our room and diagnosed him as such, giving him an injection and round of antibiotics. We let the hotel manager (Caroline) know about this incident and asked if they would re-imburse us for the cost of the doctors visit ($300 US). She was defensive and brushed us off. We weren't looking for blame, just reimbursement. One last positive note, we had a lovely Wine Tasting experience with the resort Sommelier named Edgar. I would give him five stars for his friendliness, knowledge, passion and professionalism. He had introduced some lovely wines to the restaurants, they are very lucky to have him!!