Occidental Caribe

Trey Evans

Place was not great, service was mediocre at best with 90% of the workers barely speaking English (though, the guest services and baggage workers could speak well and were polite) one worker in particular at the towel desk was particularly unwelcoming, giving rude looks and not even saying hello. The rooms were alright, we got a double instead of the single king we reserved as well as having no trash bag and the fridge leaking with a towel. Food was bottom of the barrel (even for an all inclusive) which overall made the experience go from a 4 star to a 2, the only saving graces were the Japanese restaurant, and the snack bar area. The Japanese place was hibachi which was good and the chefs were welcoming and entertained throughout. The snack was good, serving American food like nachos, and cheese quesadillas (which we pretty much lived on) service there was better than most restaurants, with clear English and rapid refills on drinks. The pizza place above the snack bar is the holy grail of this place (honestly some of the best pizza I have had) they make the pizza fresh, and have a couple good options. Getting to reservations for food was particularly difficult, they didn’t allow us to reserve any places, so we had to go to the guest services desk and get on a waitlist in the morning, and then be at the mercy of the workers to give you a reservation to the place you want (we had to eat at the buffet once and Japanese twice because “everything is full”, we did end up getting into Dominican one night which was eh). The bars here were good, I had quite a bit of rum and cokes and they did the job. Bartenders were welcoming and made sure to acknowledge you when waiting. Pools were good, standard pools, and the beach was beautiful. The beach is swarming with people trying to sell you stuff, but that’s standard for the Caribbean. The entertainment was pretty good here, with activities every hour in the pool, including Zumba, cornhole, a cocktail class, and more we didn’t end up doing. Overall this place was overwhelmingly mediocre and fell short in quite a few areas. Don’t trust most of these reviews, if there is selfie by the pool with a worker lady wearing a black hat as the picture, she more than likely wrote the whole review and gave it a five star. To be fair you get what you pay for and it is an all inclusive so you can make it fun, you just have to look past the inadequacies and drink a ton of rum.

Damon H

Amazing resort, great views, and perfect picture beach. For the people that are concerned about the 1 star reviews, yes the resort is older, the rooms are older but yet they are still kept up to date. Remember this is not a Fairmont, Conrad, Shangri-la. It's a vacation resort and although it's slightly dated, everything seems well organized. Check-In process was quick, line is longer meaning a wait, and guest services is amazing. For all of those with complaints, you have to make friends with people to get the service you want.. not just complain complain and bark all the time. We were there for 5 days, and although we were limited to 2 restaurants from our booking, guest services made it work and got us reservations for every night. Everytime I walked through the door, they smiled and greeted me and helped dearly on whatever request I had. I booked a dinner on the beach for my girlfriend's birthday and it was amazing. The cake was also great costing us $10. As for service, there are some staff that don't understand nor speak English at all but they still try their best to help. Using google translate would help or learning basic words before you arrive as I noticed most of the vacationners here are from south american countries. Everybody was polite, and service wasn't bad. Bar does get slower at night as that's peak hour and there might be lines at some times. As for restaurants, remember if your hungry, you can order as much as you want. It's a set course but you can order multiple during the course. No excuses to be hungry after, if you didn't ask. I strongly suggest going to guest services first thing when you arrive, make a friend and you'll be set for your vacation without any stress. As for excursions, I strongly suggest Alfredo with nexus tours (his hours are 10am to 2pm). Very great dude, and helped us book a great catamaran excursion to Saona Island. There's always something going on, music and entertainement and it does get louder but it was fine for us as the music stopped after 11pm. All in all, a great vacation.

ana laura coria villa

Excellent entertainment crew. The service was great by all the staff from housekeeping to food service always very good and making sure that we have what we need. I will like to give a special thanks to Katherine de la Cruz, Damaris Vasquez, David Santana, Maria Mota and special to Lulu. They are amazing never stop 👏 . I wish the the guests that come to visit here to appreciate the hard work that all the employees do to keep the place safe and clean. Unfortunately I have seen how rude and ignorant without manners people can be, leaving garbage any where and been rude to some of the workers. Is enough garbage containers for them to put their garbage away . All inclusive doesn't mean babysitting adults . I love the place and the island people I respect it and I will keep coming back.

Mary Heatley

We booked this location for 14 days. Our dresser was broken in the room they gave us which would have been lovely as it had a quiet garden view. They moved us to a room overlooking the noisy (from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m) activity pool which spoiled any peace and quiet (we are a young 80 year's old). The plumber had to be called twice due to a non-flushing toilet and on the 3rd maintenance call, they replaced the toilet. Outside the grounds were beautiful and very well kept and we loved the jacuzzi pool and the staff was wonderful in any place we went. No complaints about the food from the buffet restaurant to the specialty restaurants. All was delicious. The ocean walk was lovely and you do have to go down to either ocean or pools early to get your chair reserved with a towel or they are gone by 10 a.m. I think next Caribbean holiday we go on it would be to a smaller resort and perhaps not near the activities. But if you are young and wanting those activities, you will enjoy it.

Mart

Hello everyone! First of all, a beautiful, clean beach!!!! Warm, crystal-clear water!! And that's why we're here!!! The staff is VERY KIND The food? Let me tell you, it's not the Sheraton!!! But the food and drinks are great!!!! Better than the Hilton in the States!!!! The rooms are clean!!! And the view from the balcony is Unfortunately, the day before our departure, we decided to buy souvenirs at a shop. They told us to pay at the front desk, so we went there. It turned out that someone at the same shop had charged us. After an hour and a half, they said everything was settled. I asked for confirmation, but the next day before departure, when it was time to board the bus to the airport, they again said I had to pay! I was very angry. I insisted I wouldn't pay, but they finally agreed. The guy at the front desk, supposedly a manager, was very rude and unprofessional. It's a shame, because if it weren't for this situation, I would have paid 5 stars for this hotel.