Faros

Ocean El Faro was the perfect anniversary trip. Deiby went above and beyond to make our stay perfect! We will be back soon!

Most of what I want to say has already been said so I’ll try and keep it short. We stayed in the El Beso section and this was a great choice, firstly the noise and children running around the buffet restaurant was a bit loud so we used the El Beso restaurant for breakfast every day after the first morning. The room we were in was building 16 ground floor so it felt like we had a pool room as it was 10 steps from the room to the pool. We managed to use all the restaurants booking via the app each day and had no problems, food was great in each one. We found all the staff to be great and interacting, maybe what you give is get , we tipped for good service so we never had to not tip!! I understand everyone is individual and has their own opinions and expectations so it might not be as good as my experience but I can only say that I was not disappointed in any way. Check in easy and quick, room excellent cleaned every day, fridge filled daily, food in all restaurants great, nice staff all this equals a great holiday. Would I return, in a heartbeat.

This is the third time coming the hotel still looks the same beautiful the room we stayed in was the same 1 as before fantastic we got a bottle of rum and chocolate sweet but here it comes on arrival we got taken to the el beso check in which was new got taken to our room on entering the room it well it smelt musty some of the sockets did don't work Now onto the food we informed the hotel of my dietary needs it was mad difficult by the language barrier and lack signs saying is in it ie gluten or dairy free

Ocean el faro, fantastic hotel. Fantastic room. Food plenty and well prepared, suitable for every taste. El beso section was where we stayed with two adults only pools. One lively the other quieter. Fantastic location, right on the beach front. No sunbed wars .

Ive been hesitating to write this review bc im not sure how to fit all I have to say.. I’ll start with saying something i never thought would happen, my husband and I have visited the DR a few times and we always come back bc we LOVE it… Unfortunately this time around we cant say the same. Biggest thing that happened was $200 disappearing from our room… the wait at the lobby to check in was over an hour (with 4 kids) My daughter almost drowned in the pool bc of all the tiles coming off and her necklace got stuck. Staff did not want to be there, RUDE! Specially ice cream lady at night. Shower floors were filthy. There was never enough plates or cups at the buffet. We left EXTREMELY disappointed and don’t plan to ever come back to this hotel. Hope whoever took our money finds good use to it. There was a handful of nice people at this place. So if you want to get your money’s worth, do not waste it here.

We had an amazing stay at Ocean El Faro! The resort is beautiful, with spacious rooms, great food, and plenty of activities to enjoy throughout the day. The staff was friendly and always made us feel welcome. A special thank you to our personal butler, Elizabeth De La Cruz, who made our stay even more memorable. She was incredibly helpful, attentive, and always available whenever we needed anything. Her exceptional service and genuine care truly elevated our experience. We highly recommend Ocean El Faro, and if you get Elizabeth as your butler, you’re in great hands!

Very good activities a pool games like the foam party. Very friendly staff especially Emmanuel. 10/10 animation

The pool activities were so much fun! The staff made the experience so much better too. They were very interactive and improved the trip dramatically! Emmanuel and Enrique were the best!

Came to Ocean El Faro for my birthday the week of June 01st with a few friends. The weather was lovely during our stay with no day being less than 25 degrees Celsius. Resort – Ocean El Faro is a nicely established resort in Uvero Alto. It is secluded from other resorts so there is plenty of privacy and room to maneuver, especially on the beach side. Guests are welcomed by a grand, spacious and luxurious lobby with high arched ceilings, ambient lighting, comfortable chairs and tables, reception to the right, an interactive map by the exit, restrooms, a Lobby bar that sits under the skeleton of a marine animal, and a fancy Piano bar. A big thanks to Hector at the Lobby bar for making us some fancy Mojitos! Upon exiting the lobby are all the restaurants which are lined up on the right side. To the left are the souvenir/convenience shop, gym + spa, game zone, bowling alley, theatre, sports bar, and club. To the end, is an outdoor public space with patio tables and chairs called the Plaza Central where live performances, dancing, karaoke, and mobile games like Bingo take place! There is also an outdoor ice cream shop in a gazebo that serves custom cold treats served daily from 5pm! The building suites are located after the Central Plaza. There are several buildings located throughout the resort with different views, ex. garden view, pool view, beach view, etc. Each building is three storeys high and is equipped with stairs and elevators. The landscaping in and around the buildings is nicely done and gives a little Miami vibe. Toward the end of the resort and next to the beach side, is a giant lighthouse structure that is accessible to everyone. Guests can take the elevator up to an outdoor guarded walkway that circles the top of the structure. This is a lovely place to take photos and catch some nice views with some Dominican breeze! Where the resort falls short, is with the landscaping and availability of shade in certain areas. Areas around the pools and the lighthouse could certainly use a lot more palm trees to act as shade canopies. We noticed that while walking around these premises, it would get hot very quickly, making us run to areas with available shade. The landscaping around the lighthouse is especially bare, with not one palm tree in sight. It looked flat, and almost desert like. Hopefully management takes this into consideration as it would greatly enhance the natural beauty. Suite – We got the Junior Suite with Pool View on the ground floor of Building 1 (Rm. 1124). The room was perfect! Spacious, clean, sensibly laid out, well-lit, air conditioned, and conveniently located close to the Central Plaza and pools. The closets had more than enough storage room for luggage, coats, umbrellas and extras. The suite was also equipped with a coffee maker, mini bar fridge stocked daily with water, Sprite, Coca-Cola, and their local beer, Presidente, and a PIN safe for all your personal valuables. We loved the ensuite bathroom! It was spacious and had everything we needed. It was equipped with double vanity sinks, a pull-up vanity mirror, private water closet, private walk-in shower, and a soaker tub with jets. Toiletries such as bath and hand towels, toilet paper, tissue napkins, hand and bath soaps, were provided and replenished when needed. The interior finishes of wooden accents paired with the decorative white + teal tiles gave a Dominican colonial atmosphere which we really liked! The only minor issues we dealt with were one of the faucets for the vanity sink had a lower flow than the other, and the drainage cap in the shower and soaker tub were loose – so just a couple adjustments to be made there. Our bed came with a king-sized mattress and four pillows which were super comfy, and made everyday thanks to Juana and another housekeeper. Conveniently placed in front of our bed, was a flat screen TV with a plethora of channels in English and Spanish, hung over a credenza with more storage. The suite also has a living space provided with a work desk, chair, loveseat and table. It is secured with a sliding glass door that steps onto a little patio with a swinging chair, which sits next to a garden terrace with views to the main pool and towel station. This outdoor space can be viewed to and from the public, so make sure to have the sliding door locked at all times! Restaurants – The resort offers a variety of ethnic cuisine restaurants: Sakura (Japanese), Margarita (Mexican), Dolce Vita (Italian), Blue Moon (French), Steakhouse (American), Route 66 (American), Ocean Burger (American/Beach Food), Villa Marina (Caribbean), El Mercado Buffet (varies throughout), and Mike’s Coffee (sweets & beverages). There are a few others that are only for El Beso (Adults) and Premium guests, therefore we did not care to visit them. Three of the restaurants require reservations: Sakura, Dolce Vita and Steakhouse. Our favourites in order: Sakura (live cooking offering sushi, egg fried rice with chicken, beef, shrimp, and mixed vegetables), Margarita (enfrojiladas + quesadillas), Blue Moon (rack of lamb + ratatouille), Villa Marina (grilled salmon over rice), Route 66 (chicken sandwiches + fries), Buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner (especially the Dominican lunch serving paella, fried rice, chicken stew and mangos, and for their nightly desserts!). Mike’s Coffee was incredible!!! Hands down – the best hot caramel mocha and iced lattes! The banana bread is also fire! Just be wary of the lineup as it can get long, and there is generally only one barista on site. I want to mention the staff who went out of their way for exceptional service: Kritzia (Blue Moon server), Aneujrisio (Buffet Server), Live chef (Sakura), Edwin (Villa Marina Chef), and Clara (Mike’s Coffee barista). Pools – The resort offers four pools with swim-up pool bars, conveniently placed between the building suites. There is also a children’s pool with slides and a bucket drop, as well as the popular lazy river, which was our favourite! The pool grounds provide more than enough chairs and shade canopies. There are also towel stations at a select few pools where the attendant provides fresh blue towels and can even pump your inflatables if you ask! Tip: Come early in the day to reserve a chair with your towel. We never encountered anyone taking our spot, but we also came extra prepared with locks to secure our belongings that were left unattended. The lazy river was the highlight of our trip. It stretches about 2km and loops around to a common pool area with a swim-up pool bar. The current produced by the jets takes guests along the path without having to do much swimming of their own. The boulders, vegetation and waterfalls added a nice Amazonian effect. Where it fell short was a few of the water/sprinkler features (water guns, bucket drop, main rock canopy waterfall) were not working. Also, a little more management with the cleanliness of the river from plant leaves, debris and drink cups would have made it that much more enjoyable. Regardless, it was the daily go-to pool for us. Make sure to bring your own floaty as the ones provided by the resort will not be enough for everyone! The souvenir shop sells these for $15-$20 USD. Shoutout to the Lazy River Pool Bar Gang – Raymundo (NLE Choppa’s doppelgänger), Omar and Dany for making us the best drinks. We loved the Miami Vice, Tequila Sunrise, Tom Collins, Caipirinha, and Daiquiris. Beach – Our least favourite part of Ocean El Faro, is the location. Perhaps Uvero Alto is not the ideal location for the beach since it faces the untamed coastal Atlantic or this resort sits on the worst location in the city next to the beach. Pros – The sand is clean, beach chairs and shade are plentiful, and the water is nice, warm and clean with little to no seaweed. You can also find small various seashells for collecting and taking home as souvenirs. There is also a bar and the Villa Marina restaurant within steps from the beach if you are looking for a drink or bite to eat. Cons – Ocean El Faro is an isolated resort, with the next resort being more than 10km away. Therefore, the natural properties adjacent to it, leave the beach ends with nothing but rocks and seaweed accumulation. These areas are virtually inaccessible and makes the beach area appear small. The accessible shoreline is probably 1.5km long at best, so it does limit walking along the shoreline. There was also only a handful of people swimming in the water. Third party sellers of products/services also frequent the beach side and are not shy to engage with guests to get them to purchase things; from beaded jewelry, threaded bracelets, wooden figurines to hair braiding, wrapping, massages, and excursions. I’d recommend to visit World-Mart for souvenirs, as they offer a greater variety of the same items at a fraction of the cost! Overall, we enjoyed the beach for its cleanliness, availability of chairs for napping in the breeze, dipping our feet in the water, and collection of seashells, but that is as far as it goes. If you are looking for that soft white/golden sand free of seashells and rocks, with rows of palm trees towering above the beach chairs, and turquoise blue water where there is full visual transparency of everything that lies under, then you will not find it here. I recommend finding a resort in the east or south coast like Bavaro, Punta Cana – best beach ever! Tips/Other – I highly recommend to tip individual staff who you like and become familiar with earlier than later. This will establish a relationship that will benefit you and them. You will get consistent, if not, better service and they will see an incentive to provide quality service to you during your stay. My group noticed this with the housekeeping staff who are generally assigned to clean the same suites daily, and also with the servers. We were told that these people, depending on their position, make anywhere between $200-$600 USD on a monthly basis. The bartenders, baristas and servers rely heavily on shared tips to support their lifestyle. Be generous with the gratuity - it will go a long way for them and for you! There are stray cats that freely roam certain parts of the resort. A family of a few adult cats and kittens can be found playing and napping under chairs outside of Mike’s Coffee. An adult cat with two grey kittens can be found playing and napping in the garden of building 1 (which is where we stayed). These little guys would greet us every morning in return for some snacks and water (which we did provide). They were all quite the center of public spectacle, and seemed to be friendly to those who are gentle with them. If you are looking for some gifts and souvenirs, head on over to World-Mart! An off-resort market located just 20 minutes away, and arranged by the resort staff. The market offers a vast selection of goods for purchase: stationary items, novelty items, fun and fine jewelry, magnets, wooden figurines, painted ceramic pieces, tees, tanks, shorts, beach bags, cacao + chocolates, cigars, lighters, and more! We ended up buying some bracelets, magnets and the Dominican milk chocolates, priced 3/$10 USD - they were So Good! The market prefers cash so make sure you bring good quality bills as they will not accept ones that are torn. Make sure to also tip the drivers to and from the market! The Verdict – Ocean El Faro delivered us what we had reviewed and expected before booking. It offers good customer relations and service, cleanliness of resort grounds, modern and comfortable suites, variety of restaurants and food/drinks, pools, fun & entertainment, and safety & security. I believe every resort offers something more or less compared to other resorts. In most cases you may need to compromise. For us, since we did not have high expectations for the beach, it did not disappoint us. The variety of pools and the lazy river alone were more than enough for our entire vacation. We will definitely return with a larger group, and with kids! With love from Toronto, Canada!

Emmanuel/excellent entertainer/water aerobics. Very good activity super excellent 👏 animation 👌 Very good an service good

Volley ball heaven with sexy chocolate at the el beso pool He is great and loves his job with the guests

The great: - Tons of activities and amenities. The lazy river is really great and the water park kept my son and his friend entertained for hours. The basketball and tennis courts were nice options on cooler days, and the bowling alley and kids lounge meant there was always something to if we needed a break from the sun. I couldn't find any other resorts in this prices range with so many ways to stay entertained. - The nightly shows were fun, and there was often live music and dancing in the main square. - The main lobby bar is huge, and beautiful. It feels more like a ballroom but with lots of couches/chairs/tables to gather and sit. We spent many evenings hanging out here playing cards and enjoying the excellent service. - The pool bars are great. Rarely had to wait more then a couple of minutes for a drink. Excellent frozen margaritas. Pool water temp was refreshingly cool (but not cold). - Mike's cafe is a really nice touch. Early morning coffee or late night snacks, it was always popular. The good enough: - The food was inconsistent but usually acceptable. Sometimes it was delicious, other times it was cold or bland (or both). I imagine its hard to avoid when you are serving that many people every day. I think once you get acquainted with everything you'll always be able to find something you like. The burger stand near the pools was a great option for a quick lunch if you didn't want to get dry/changed for lunch - but be careful to check each burger, we found they were undercooked on more than one occasion. - The service was generally good, with only a few exceptions. Our room was cleaned thoroughly every day, and any time we found ourselves in Danny's section of the buffet we were well taken care off. For the most part anybody who helped us with food or drinks was great. The front desk was disappointing though (we had to ask them three times before they brought us linens for the pull out bed). We also only had our drink fridge restocked 1 time the entire week. The day we arrived I left a $2 USD tip in the fridge and it just sat untouched for 5 straight days. - The rooms were musty as others have reported, but its kind of to be expected in that kind of humid environment. I didn't bother us much because we only really used them to sleep anyway. They were spacious and comfortable, and everything worked pretty well. - The hotel beach was not one for swimming between the rocks and rough water. But the bay just a 5 minute walk away was excellent. Nice shallow sandy bottom that you can walk out pretty far in. The bad: - The pools are neglected. They are lined with thousands of little square tiles, and there are a lot missing. Besides looking/feeling run down, you get these dangerous sharp edges wherever one of the tiles has come off. My son cut his knee pretty deep on one of these edges while getting out of the pool. - The vendors that setup right in the middle of the resort are very aggressive and pushy. I'm not talking about the beach vendors that can be found at just about any Caribbean destination ... these ones were right in the main square. You couldn't walk anywhere without having to go past them. They will shake your hand as they introduce themselves, and then try to physically pull you toward their tables. They will not take "no thanks" for an answer, even if this is the third or fourth time you've walked past them that day. I can't fathom why the resort would endorse this kind of behavior. - There were never enough lounge chairs or towels. I think they deliberately create competition for these things so that they can upsell you on privilege tier. Same goes for restaurant reservations. Using the app to book every morning is insultingly ineffective. They clearly want you to get frustrated and spend extra for a butler that can get you the reservations easily. Fortunately I booked through Costco which came with a concierge who handled our bookings, but everyone else I spoke to who was without a butler had to franticly refresh the app at 8:00am every day hoping to get a spot. Conclusion: Knowing what I know, would I return? Yes, but only if the price is right. The best thing this resort has going for it is the numerous options for fun, which is so important when travelling with kids. We got a decent deal this time around - so if I could find something like that again, then I'm okay making some of these concessions.

This was the best vacation and our second time staying there. Once again we got to get a Great Butler Mr Joel. I was so excited to see him and learn that he is now the head butler. Mr.Joel made sure we had everything doing our stay. I was traveling with a hurt knee and Mr.Joel made sure that a cart would pick up our group of 6 p.m. every night for dinner because our building was #8. He also send us the daily schedule of activities and made our nighttime reservations for dinner. This year we brought my brother and his wife along to enjoy the resort and they were very impressed. Our group of 6 with 4 of us returned guests. And I cannot leave out my other friendly butler we had last year Mr. Alexander., we got to see him one night on this visit too. He give us a ride after the show ended one night. This is a place for Adults, children and a place for relaxing and having a great vacation. All the restaurants are top-notch five star restaurants. Even your breakfast and lunch area are a go to. time I was able to enjoy not just the swimming pool but the lazy river. It was great fun for five day vacation and next time I will stay a whole week. It is so much to do or just sit have a cup of coffee in the coffee shop and enjoy the atmosphere of meeting new people from everywhere. Not to mention after a nice meal, walk down and have a cup of ice cream and sit out and play bingo, or wait on what is gonna be on the nighttime theater show time.

When you arrive at the hotel ,the lobby area is gives the impression of grandeur, this soon changes when you get in your room! . We had 2 rooms in block 7 ground floor ,as soon as you walked in the smell of damp greated you like a slap around your face ,it was awful ,the bed ,the towels ect everything felt damp . We raised this issue and was given a de humidifier! We spent one night in block 7 and was then moved to block 8 on the 3rd floor . There was no smell of damp but the rooms are very dated ,none of the plugs fitted in the sink or bath ,the hot tap to the bath was actually the cold ! None of the doors shut properly and you have no way of locking your room from the inside (we had cleaners come in a couple of times ) . Fridges were not re stocked without a call down to reception and even then didn't always happen. The hot water was very hit and miss and sometimes just went off ! The food was the worst I had ever encountered on all of my many vacations, lots of variety but barley warm ,if you don't speak Spanish good luck getting understood ! Communication barrier was huge ,sometimes you would get drinks brought to your table ,most times you wouldn't. First holiday ever that I actually lost weight ! You are in middle of nowhere so have no other option than to eat on site . The burger bar near the lazy river another awful food outlet ,chips open on counter, birds helping themselves and you had no idea how long burgers had been on counter for until you picked one up ,mostly cold ! The a la cart restaurants were equally bad ,thankfully the coffee shop had cheese and ham sandwiches and fresh muffins, saved the holiday . This was a hotel that 💯 caters for the privilege holiday makers at the expense of everyone else .

Greeted on arrival and introduced to our Butler Jose. He made us feel really welcome and made sure we were settled. Service - Very disappointed in the main restaurant. Staff not guest friendly and disappeared or talked amongst themselves leaving us waiting for even a glass of water. Main restaurant - Last night we had to wait 20 minutes for a plate to be able to even have dinner! Several mornings they ran out of orange juice. However there was a great chef who always had my fried eggs ready! Smoking - this is only allowed in open areas however on the downside this included in the pool. Rooms - air conditioning easy to use and worked perfectly. On the downside you are lucky to get a hot shower. Thought it was only us but on speaking to others it appears to be a hotel wide issue. Activities - not many took place around the privilege pool. Pool staff - Kristina, John and Johnathan at the privilege pool bar were amazing. Really went out of their way to help. They made our holiday.

I would not recommend Ocean El Faro resort to anyone looking for a relaxing or enjoyable vacation. From the moment we arrived, the customer service was unacceptable. Many staff members were extremely rude, dismissive, and unprofessional. What was even more concerning was the apparent colorism displayed by some employees, as guests seemed to receive noticeably different treatment based on their appearance. No guest should ever feel unwelcome or discriminated against while on vacation. The food was another major disappointment. Most meals were cold, bland, lacked seasoning, and often appeared unsanitary. Drinks were watery and tasted as if it was syrup based all the time. There were several occasions where food quality raised serious concerns about cleanliness and proper food handling practices. Flies everywhere in the common dinning hall, that pitched on just about everything. Dinning should be one of the highlights of an all-inclusive resort, but here it was one of the worst parts of the experience. The accommodations were equally problematic. The rooms were excessively humid, creating an unhealthy and uncomfortable environment. Moisture seemed trapped throughout the room, leaving bedding, furniture, clothing, and personal belongings feeling damp at all times. The constant humidity made it difficult to breathe comfortably and gave the entire room a moldy, musty, unhealthy atmosphere. The resort itself was incredibly boring. There was very little to do during the day, and the entertainment offerings were severely lacking. Entertainment was a snooze and seems like an after thought, no excitement nor enthusiasm. Activities were limited and failed to create the vibrant vacation atmosphere that guests expect from a resort destination. To make matters worse, travelers should be aware that lost and stolen luggage at Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) as it appears to be a recurring issue that desperately needs attention from airport authorities. The lack of accountability and resolution for missing baggage adds unnecessary stress to what should be a pleasant travel experience. Overall, this was one of the most disappointing vacation experiences I have ever had. Between the poor customer service, concerns about discriminatory treatment, unsanitary and flavorless food, unhealthy room conditions, lack of entertainment, and baggage issues, I cannot recommend Ocean El Faro resort and would “strongly” encourage potential visitors to consider other options. This resort over promised to get you through their doors and then under delivered. I would never revisit this place ever again. Felt like money down the drain to be honest.