Here is the truth - your vacation is what you make of it! If you go expecting everything to be perfect all the time, you will surely be disappointed. If you go with a positive attitude and are there to enjoy yourselves and relax, you will NOT be disappointed!

We spent 12 nights at this resort during the last week of June and first week of July. There were 6 of us total; 2 in their 60's, 2 in their 30's and 2 pre-teen boys. It was simply the most relaxing vacation I have ever taken! The resort grounds are emaculate, the hotel rooms are better than average, the food was comparable to the Sandal's where we stayed in Jamaica.

As always, there are things that are not perfect... Yes, they don't all speak wonderful English, but my Spanish is not the best either. (Keep in mind you are visiting a Spanish-speaking country!) We NEVER felt that we could not communicate because of this language barrier though - they tried their best and we tried ours, and we communicated wonderfully. The buffets are not the best, especially after 12 days. The choice for the evening meal is second to none though for an all-inclusive resort. Buffets are buffets, folks! If you want to order from a menu for every meal, this is not the resort for you. Compared to other all-inclusive resorts though, it was NOT bad at all - just gets old after a while. The evening shows are entertaining, but not wonderful. The magic show was awesome though! I would NOT recommend going to Bavaro (local town) to go shopping for two reasons: the merchants are totally overwhelming, and you can find almost all of the same items just outside of the resort property at the beach.

The biggest complaint we had during our two week stay was that it was awfully hard to get drinks at the buffets when you wanted them - with your meal. By time you sat down and began to eat, it took WAY too long for the wait staff to bring water or a drink of any kind. This was only a problem at the buffets, not the restaurants. It could be EASILY solved if they just had a self-serve pop machine or water and coffee stations set up for guests and we gave them this feedback.

The highlights of our trip... the massages (Lucia is wonderful), the Mexican and Italian (especially the Italian) restaurants, Mike's Coffee, The Strike game room (for kids, not necessarily for adults), the incredible beach and ocean water, the nice warm pool that our children spent hours in everyday, the Kid's Club (which we only used for a total of 4 hours, but the kids had fun and the staff was great), the incredible grounds.

All in all, this was a fabulous resort to visit and I would highly recommend it to anyone who asked. It is a beautiful country, lovely beaches and pools (nice and warm, unlike other resorts that we have visited where you could not even use the swim-up bar!), vendor shops right off the hotel beach - you would never have to leave this hotel if you chose not to. It is wonderful! We would go back in a heartbeat!

Stayed at this hotel with some friends from Aug. 10 until Aug 18. My review is based upon 16 previous vacations to Punta Cana and comparisons to other hotels with similar TA rankings.

First, let me say that I can see why others have raved about this place. The concept is good with two large pools, a snack bar at the beach, a centrally located buffet, a restaurant row, and an active lobby bar with entertainment. It's the execution of the concept and lack of management presence, in my opinion, that is sorely lacking.
We all opted for Elite Club hoping for a higher standard of service. Don't waste your money.

The buildings and grounds are sterile and boring compared to other Punta Cana properties. This was, by far, the least attractive hotel that I have booked.

Check in was neither fast nor efficient even though we were the only two rooms checking in at the time. However, when we got our room cards, as if by magic, a young man appeared, to inform us that we had a 9:30AM appointment the following morning to confirm our transfers back to the airport. Obviously, it was a deceptive way to get you to go to a time share presentation. We politely declined, but he was very persistant. I know that everyone has a job to do, but couldn't the hotel give guests a moment to settle in before they start the high pressure sales pitch? Very annoying!

However, my attitude is to go with the flow, don't let the little things bother you, and enjoy a vacation in paradise. Right? ...If only.

It took an hour a half and several phone calls for our bags to arrive. I got a call a few minutes later informing me that there was a problem with our vouchers. I went back to reception only to be told that they were sorry, the vouchers were OK.

The second day the safe broke. A repairman came promptly and fixed it. The next day it broke again. After that, we didn't bother. The safe repairmen were very busy people. I saw them with their black briefcases everywhere and often. If only management could be as visable.

Our houskeepers were fantastic. They couln't do enough and had a wonderful spirit. We tipped them gladly and often. Thank goodness for houskeeping because.......

It was raining one night so we decided to order room service. When I completed the order, I asked for two beers. I was informed that the only way to get beer was to go to a bar and get it yourself. I explained that it was raining and I didn't feel like going to a bar. We were in villa 6, the farthest from any bar. I was told, "Sorry, that's hotel policy" Huh? I paid for elite club which includes 24 hour room service and I couldn't get a beer brought to my room. The maid was kind enough to give us a few extra beers.

My friend went to the beach for towels on Monday and was informed that there would be no towels until Tuesday. Not a big deal, but after a while the little things add up.

My friend's room was freezing. My room, in the same building was a sauna. After three days of trying to get it fixed, we were offered another room.

The buffet restaurant for us was a glorified cafeteria. The service was hit or miss. The food was mediocre at best, and I felt queasy for a few hours after every meal there.


We had one good meal and one bad one at the Italian restaurant and an average dinner at Route 66. The a la carte restaurants are small and usually crowded. It was the opinion of everyone in my party that this design is to encourage guests to eat at the buffet which is cheaper for the hotel. The special dinner, on the beach, which is a perk of the elite club, was forgettable. Fortunately, we had a car and were able to take meals outside of the property.

We wanted to play golf at White Sands, but one look at the golf course and it was obvious that it was not well maintained. We played a Cocotal instead.

There is no single thing that I can point to that made this hotel so bad, but rather an overwhelming amount of little things that can be easily managed. A note to management: The hospitality business doesn't run on automatic pilot. Get out from behind your desks and do a little supervising....especially in the restaurants.

I purposly waited a week to write this review to avoid shooting from the hip. Even after a week, my feeling is that I would not go back even if they paid me. However, one bad experience does not change my love for traveling to Punta Cana. I will be back in November....just not at Ocean Blah.

Spent the last week of July/first week of August at Ocean Blue with my 14 year old son and a good friend. This is a family resort and there was lots to do if you wanted to. I had been afraid that it would be rainy at this time of the year and although it rained a few times at night and briefly during the day, it was 99% blue sky and sunshine. It was very hot so all we did was hang out in the pool or the ocean and enjoy it. The seaweed was cleaned off the beach every morning.
The room was large enough to sleep 5 people so it was fine for the three of us. There were no issues finding beach chairs or chairs at the pool. There was also good Englsih television reception which was important to the 14 year old boy.
The buffet was very good with a lot of variety including a children's station (macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc), a dietary station, crepe station, pasta station, a stir fry station, and the best array of desserts that I had seen at any of the resorts I have been to and this is my third time in Punta Cana and I have been to a five star and three star in the past.
I had the best steak beautifully presented at the beach restaurant one evening on the recommendation of another guest. It was comparable to a meal in an upscale restaurant in a large city. I would not ordinarily order steak in the DR but was glad I did. The waiter was delightful and charming. My friend ordered a curry dish but didn't like it (no kick!) and they exchanged the meal immediately.
A plane load of Brits arrived one day so there were lots of English speaking people while we were there. On the weekend more Spanish speaking people arrived and they were very well dressed and very family oriented. There was also people from France and Germany.
I thought that this resort was excellent value, comparable to some of the five star hotels. There was brand name alcohol available at the pool and beach bars and the bartenders were happy to accommodate individual tastes.

Leaving Punta Cana--a story in itself. We checked the board to discover our flight had been delayed. We had checked out and had been given keys to the courtesy room so we stayed at the beach longer. Our luggage was in storage. Checked the board again and the airport transport was to pick us up at 7:45 p.m. So we had extra time at the beach and enjoyed one more meal at the buffet. While we are on the shuttle bus, the driver gets a phone call and hands the phone to me. It was Transat Holidays rep saying that our flight was delayed til 7:30 a.m. the next morning and they would take us to the Catalonia Resort and then the driver turned off the highway and down a long dark road. No one in the shuttle said a word. We obviously got there, checked in, got wrist bands, got a drink, went to the Internet cafe to e-mail work that we would be late and then some, and went to the beach party. The airport tranposrt left at 4:30 a.m. in the morning and at 8:00 a.m. we left the DR. The orginal plane had had mechanical difficulities and I felt like it was handled all right. Some people had spent quite a bit of time at the airport before before being brought to the hotel and arrived when all the buffet was finished. Some people were running out of meds and diapers and these things were not readily available at 4:30 a.m. So that was a lesson in packing extra essentials and not planning important appointments the day you are supposed be back from vacation. Transat gave us a $75 voucher toward another flight. We were happy to have and extra day in paradise.
I would happily recommend this resort for a great vacation.

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Punta Cana from August 15th to August 22nd. We booked our trip through Apple Vacations. The resort was a great deal for the price. Be sure to bring a lot of cash, especially ones for tipping. The stores in the hotel only take cash as well as some of the excursions and things to do such as the banana boat. Also, bring lots of sunscreen and aloe vera gel. We ran out and had to pay $20 at the hotel store just for lotion. When we arrived at the resort, we were disappointed that our Apple representative was not there to assist us. You go to the check-in desk and they will give you stickers to put your room # on your luggage. When you go to check-in, there are people sitting on the right side who are trying to sell timeshares. Just walk by them and ignore them. We did not like that our luggage had to sit in the lobby for about 4 hours and they would not let us take it. We finally were allowed to go to our room at 4:30, which was well over the 3:00 check-in time. I had expected this after reading other reviews, but it was still annoying. During the 4 hours of waiting, we ate lunch at the main buffet, La Tortuga and had drinks at the bar in the lobby. We must have arrived on a busy day (Friday) because other people we talked to did not have the same check-in experience. The restaurants are pretty good. I mean, what do people expect for the price? Our favorite restaurant was the Dominican restaurant. You have to wear pants there and the service is wonderful. I ordered garlic shrimp and it is delicious. At the end of the meal, they bring you a shot called Maja Juana. It is made from some kind of root and vanilla, amaretto, and honey. Though I read some bad reviews for Route 66, I thought it was great. It was my 2nd favorite, next to the Dominican restaurant. Order the ribeye steak! It's huge and delicious! The Mexican restaurant had okay food, but it was extremely hot in there. My husband was sweating. Mike's Coffee is awesome! We went there every night after dinner for dessert and coffee and we brought playing cards. It was so much fun. The cappuccinos are delicious. There are two places to eat for lunch, La Tortuga, the main buffet, and another one, I can't remember the name of it, right next to the beach. Not to be gross, but bring diarrhea medicine. Many people we talked to got traveler's diarrhea, including my husband. You will be glad you brought it. Trust me, we were. Breakfast is the best meal of the day. The crepes are delicious and they have Nutella to put on them. I had them everyday. They also have omelets made to order, pancakes, homemade donuts, etc. Okay, well enough about food. The beach is the best part of this resort. The water is so clear. There is a little seaweed but not that much. We spent all our time at the beach and barely went to the pool. The pool is disgustingly warm. The ocean is much more refreshing. There are a lot of activities to do. They have a dart tournament every day at 10:45 by the beach and the winner gets a bottle of rum. They have water aerobics in the pool every day at 12. It's really fun. They have step aerobics in between the two pools every day at 4:30 followed by dance lessons at 5:00 in the same spot. They had a beach party one night and that was a great time. We had a ball doing the Macarena in the sand. Bring white because they have a white night at the club one night. You will have a great time as long as you don't expect the Ritz! It's a nice place but it definitely is not America. I would recommend bringing your own sheets. We felt itchy in their sheets.