TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We had a wonderful stay at the Oceano Palace Beach Hotel based on the help of Eduardo Ayala and Daniel Nava at the reception desk helping us get situated in our lovely rooms. They have three variations of ceviche ….each is divine (one order can feed 3 people) with totally fresh fish. Everyone at the hotel is very friendly and helpful. The hotel has wonderful ocean views and is honoring of the Mexican culture. This is not the sterile Americanized hotel ambiance so you can get actually get a sense of being in Mexico.

Spend the extra couple of hundred dollars as stay ANYWHERE else. The Pros. Staff is friendly although handle very few issues satisfactorily. Booze is plentiful. The Cons (and only a few of them) Two elevators and one was broken all week. Wait times were half hour. Food is absolutely awful. The food on the buffet is unrecognizable or cut up so finally you can only put it in a taco. No carving station. No full piece of meat all week. Lots of refried beans (puke). Hot Dogs seventeen different ways!! Gotta give that nine year old Chef Kudos LOL. There are three A la Cartes. One is a two and half hour supper "experience". Painful. Terrible food and worse entertainment. The Pelican resets every three nights. I haven't witnessed a NY Strip Roast that was so horrendously overcooked!! Quite a feat!! Tried the fish two different times - inedible. I have eaten Icelandic Flat Fish that had more moisture!! That band that belts out on the beach needs to be terminated. So loud So bad. Sounds like the UofS College Nine when they were too drunk to stand LOL. Pool is saturated with children, dirt, empty cups and fine film of ooze on the top of the water. The crowning glory was when we checked out at 11am but our airport shuttle did not pick us up til 3. They cut off our wrist bands and we had NO FOOD OR BEVERAGE privilege's. Very classy. I have travelled lots and I have wrote very few reviews but this trip deserved it. Loud, terrible food and no effort to fix any of it - although that is Mexican way. Like a said spend an extra bit and stay somewhere else Mazatlan is worth the trip.

The main needs of this vacation were beach, sand, pool, drinks, food. This fit the bill as the cheapest, direct flight for both my wife and I from BC and my brother and his wife from SK. A RIU this resort is NOT but we knew that going in. We knew the food would not be great, it isn't in the buffet. It's adequate for one visit maybe two but after that too limited and too repetitive. We chose instead to visit one of the smaller restaurants and either the Luna, Pacific Tower or Star Palace from breakfasts and select one of the dinner options each evening. Through that dining experience which was good we met Ramon. What an exceptionally pleasant, knowledgeable, hardworking and catering man. We asked to use the one dining room that was closed to play cards in. It was hard to find a quiet place to get away for that kind of activity. He said absolutely and turned the lights on for us and even asked us what we would like to drink. He even made the drinks, which were all exceptional, himself. Each evening then we asked for dinner that would take us to Ramon. He gave us special treatment and made us very welcome each evening for dinner and our card games. He served us drinks through the evening even while he was managing the dinners. The last evening he made me a dirty martini that was very excellent. Four olives!! If we were to decide to go here again we would choose the Luna Palace to stay in as it is a bit more laid back, nice pool and quieter. Not fault of the hotel but bands play on the beach and are extremely loud. The hotel was also fully booked with local families and associations or teams so very busy. We never were able to use the main pool but the Pacific pool was a good alternative and we stayed on the beach under a Palapa.

AC vents wafting other people’s fecal odours into your room Overcrowded pools Terrible food, no choice Beach ‘bandas’ incessant noise - not music!! No entertainment. Poor management- checking in almost 1200 guests in one morning- total chaos. Despite hotel literature advising all inclusive guests could use facilities of sister hotels, staff not welcoming and, at one point, asking us to leave. All in all, very poor experience. We will not return to this chain of hotels. Mazatlan however is lovely.

I have been going to Mexico for over 30 years. I have stayed at old resorts, new resorts, good resorts and bad. Oceano Palace has to be the worst resort I have stayed at. When we checked in, they upgraded us to the Pacific Tower. Nice room, beautiful views. Beds were extremely uncomfortable, hard. Water was shut off daily every morning, hot water was scarce. Food was horrendous. Recycled. The leftover fries and burgers from the snack bar was served on the breakfast buffet. Food was the same daily and cold. Wait staff was great. Happy and accommodating. Drinks at the bar were questionable. What ever concoction that was in the blender was what your drink was mixed with. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri and it was full of coconut. What was left in the blender at days end was poured into a plastic milk jug and used the next day. I would not recommend this hotel.