It is logical for most to peruse the reviews of the various resorts available and then make a decision because on the extent to which the positive reviews outweigh the negative ones. I chose Ocean Blue based on this logic, but I also noted what the nay-sayers wrote as well. My wife and I just returned from this short trip (8/23-8/26), and although the weather was impacted by rain from storm Isaac, I will not include it as a factor here in my observations. This resort and its services are grossly overrated. I would rank it a score of 3 of 5 overall. I would recommend prospective visitors to explore other options at the same price. It did not meet my expectations at all. I have read some positive reviewers advise that if you come with “reasonable” expectations, you would be pleased. My response to this is that I believe that most hard-working Americans (and others) who spend this kind of money for a resort are reasonable people who know when they receive or do not receive reasonable value for their money. Ocean Blue falls noticeably short on this. I would say that I am certainly not impressed with Ocean Blue and cannot recommend this resort for the price paid.
Room Block:
Villa 5
Rooms:
Well maintained.
Restaurants and Bars: Food is always an important element of any vacation and it is with me even though I am not complicated when it comes to meals. But I expect quality that befits the reputation of the resort. My wife and I ate at the buffet most of the time, as well as at the American diner Route 66, Mi Abuela (Dominican cuisine), the beach buffet, and Bucanero seafood restaurant. We tried making reservations and the steakhouse and Italian restaurant but the process is utter nonsense. There is a small window of time to line up and make reservations at these restaurants, and if you cannot line up at these times, you are out of luck (and there is no waiting list or second chance later in the evening). Don’t waste your vacation time to spend on a line to do this. That is one way they try to persuade guests to sign up for their H10 Privilege Club. The buffet food in all respects (options, quality and service) is disappointing. I do all-inclusive a few times a year, mostly in Cancun, and the buffet at Ocean Blue is NOT up to par. I found much better meals at Route 66 and Mi Abuela. The Bucanero seafood restaurant is a paid restaurant at $40 per person. It is a plain ripoff. Basically, it is an open-sided thatched-roof shed at the edge of the beach with about eight wooden picnic-style table-and-benches on the sand. They call the dinner a “romantic seafood dinner for two.” I ordered the lobster dinner for both of us. We got a small grilled half-lobster, the tail the size of a jumbo shrimp (the rest of the body roasted an inedible because it contained nothing, not even claws), a tiny piece of fish (grouper filet), a tiny scoop of rice, and some vegetables. Remember, now, this is a tiny lobster, the tail the size of a large shrimp, and each of us got half of each side. We had wine which was good. They listed about four dessert items and all were unavailable except one. We were done with this fiasco in less than 30 minutes and headed back to the main buffet, while my wife nursed the many bites from the mosquitoes there. Luckily I wore long pants with shoes and socks. I would say that the food tasted good, but the size of the portion was an absolute ripoff.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Here are the positives. Nice layout and design of the resort area and in good condition throughout. Up front is the main check-in lobby that includes a bar and lounge area and other guest service offices. Immediately behind the main lobby is a circular courtyard with ponds flanked by the main restaurants, casino, gift-shop and “disco” (my kids remind me that they call it a “club” nowadays). Two parallel rows of three story villas with balconies lead from the courtyard area down to the beach, separated in the middle by the pools. It is a rather long walk down to the beach from the front, but there are always golf carts passing by to take you back and forth, a day and night, sun or rain. The grounds and pools are well maintained, the room was clean, in good condition, spacious and well appointed, everything worked, and the attendant did a fine job. Now here are some issues that other guests have written about that I would validate as true. First, there is a noticeable odor of sewer as soon as you step out of the lobby area into the courtyard right behind it. It smells like an overflowing sewer and seems to be more pungent near the casino area. This odor did not dissipate during the four days I was there. Note that this is the same area where the restaurants are also. Someone who is there at this moment and reading this might want to check it out and verify. The seaweed on the beach is a major issue, not a minor problem. Especially at Ocean Blues’ beachfront it was piled up in huge mounds along the beach. About 20 feet into the water, everything looked like a muddy mess. Not a pretty sight (I took pictures). About six workers came with their rakes to tackle the problem, they looked around in despair, made a few gestures with rakes in hand, and then left having done nothing. A few hours later half of them returned with rakes in hand while the tide was rising. They looked on as the waves did the job of pulling the mounds back into the ocean. Not a rake was lifted in the process to clean up the seaweed. So I walked over a mile down Bavaro to see how the other resorts were handling this problem. Much smaller mounds of seaweed at the other places, and workers carting off the seaweed with wheelbarrows. I noticed treadmarks of tractor wheels on the compressed sand, so I figured that they must have used a tractor to shovel off the seaweed. Ocean Blue’s seaweed was the worst and it was left unattended until the high tides came and washed it back into the ocean. I can also tell you that the seaweed problem was evident along the entire stretch of Bavaro beach that I walked (about 2 miles). The beach itself, however, is nice, wide and with soft sand. The water is not too rough, with gentle waves.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: Other items of brief mention. There is really no full-cast entertainment show that I saw when I was there. Just three young men dressed in white everything every evening doing some dancing and comedy skit on stage for about an hour or so. The main lobby has wifi that is painfully slow. You have to pay for Internet near the lobby area to get decent service. If you wish to make a phone call back home, they sell a $5 US Claro phone card that gives you a whopping 15 minutes of call time. The drinks are normally what you would expect at an all-inclusive. I tried a few and they were decent. I am not a drinker and had just one Presidente beer from their well-stocked refrigerator in our room. Always had bottled water and soda supplied with no problems. My wife, an avid coffee connoisseur, enjoyed Mike’s Coffee. Did not partake in any excursions as I prefer to spend my few days just relaxing without hassle to join or buy anything or engage in adventure.
Other Comments: Room maintenance was excellent, and transportation around the resort the same. But there is big problem with the men who work at this resort and I blame management for this. Yes, they constantly stalk you to sign up for their Privilege club. They are everywhere, aggressive and sometimes impolite. They drive around in the golf carts, stop when they see you, and say “come here.” If you go, they start asking you intrusive and deceptive questions with the intention of taking you to the privilege club reps at the front. We were at the beach buffet once and one of the cooks came around and put his hand around my wife’s waist asking if he could help her. She immediately told him to get his hand off her and he should not be doing that. The men I also noticed are constantly winking at the female guests, even when their husbands or boyfriends are around. I have read similar reports of this type of behavior.