TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Just returned from occidental caribe after being there for one week. Day one- arrived and took a long time for check in - we didn’t get a welcome drink. Went to the room and didn’t have fresh towels- they were provided towels the following day. Our room cleaner was amazing- she came daily and changed the sheets and provided fresh towels. If you tip well they will take care of you for sure Day two- people go down early in the morning and hold seats by the pool and the beach. They will leave for hours and just reserve the seats. The pool and beach were amazing- two sides for the pool. There was an adult side with less kids and a swim up bar which was nice. The food was hit or miss- chicken is always amazing, the beef is not recommended. Staff are hit or miss- some are friendly and helpful, others appear like they don’t want to be there. We didn’t know where half of the amenities were - we asked for a map that makes no sense! The sports bar was NOT A BAR… it actually doesn’t even have a bar in it. Very dated and musty- there is no AC in the room. There is mold throughout the resort. Day three- the French à la cart was our best food experience. Great service and great food. The staff were very friendly. At the Tokyo restaurant, everybody started at the same time, which made it difficult for the full experience . The one table was louder than the rest, so the other two tables didn’t get the full experience. Day four- the drinks were good. the Mojitos are very different than other places in Dominican. They are quite sugary and they have a premade mix for the Mojitos. The lineup at the bar is quite extensive, you can be waiting upwards of 20 minutes for a drink. The buffet was standard you would see a lot of the same things over and over again. If you go and get chicken, it is made right in front of you, however, we notice that he was using the same tongues for the raw chicken as he was the cooked chicken. Day five- my friend got violently sick on day six, and we missed our à la cart. He was up puking most of the evening. Room- the room was very dated. There is a strong musty smell in the room, not sure if it’s mould or mildew. On day three and four we noticed a cockroach in the bathroom. We ended up leaving the bathroom light on the remainder of our stay. You will not find ashtrays in the rooms, and if you request one, it’ll take multiple days before you will get one. Overall, the best part of the experience was the beach, which was very clean and free of seaweed on the sand. The pools were also well kept. There are very few signs to tell you where amenities are. Can be a difficult hotel to navigate as it is quite big. The entertainment is lacking, they try their best and you don’t know when or where the entertainment is going to be. The night shows are at 9:30 and they are quite good. We were in the 600 level and did not have hot water all week. At best we would get lukewarm water coming out of the tap. A couple of times through our stay, they would have locals come in and sell gifts. They can be quite pushy and will not take no for an answer. The stores were very reasonably priced. Nice selection of gifts and souvenirs to bring home. Make sure you bring your own sunscreen as the one store sells it for $80. When it rains, there are short power outages. This happened multiple times at our stay. In addition, there will be flooding in the main hallways, making it very slippery. I would say it best this is a three star hotel. The pizzeria by the pool is very good. You wait in a long line up to get a table, and will wait for approximately an hour and a half half before you actually get your pizza.

My opinion. Personnel was very nice Katy mazara cleaning Jonairy tavares cleaning Santos espiritusanto mayordomo Angel y maria en restaurant Marenostrum The resort needs updating in the rooms specially in the bathrooms and the food was not that good. Personnel very friendly and respectful. But the owner needs to update the rooms, Swiming pools, gardening, very good.

Overall, this place was good. The rooms need a lot of TLC and the food was ok. The grounds of the resort were very well kept, and the pools and bars were steps away while lounging by the pool. We went with family and small kids (6,3) The kids loved the water park area and had a blast. The beach was beautiful, and the water was also good it had a few waves but nothing unsafe. We were able to go into the water. The food at the buffet was just ok I wish they had more variety, but we made it work. The restaurants on premise were delicious! The staff really went above and beyond and that is what really made our stay stand out shout out to Angel and Santos for always taking care of my family and needs while serving us. The shows are very nice as well I just wish they were earlier we only made it to one because by 9:30pm our children were out! The two main things that made this an average stay were our rooms, they need to be updated and better taken care of, we overlooked this a lot because we only went to our rooms to shower and sleep most of the day, we were either in the pool or beach. The other thing was the food at the main buffet, it was just ok and a little bland. Overall, our family had a good time and will most likely be back!

There are a few great things about this resort, but unfortunately the bad outweighs the good and I will not be returning. I stayed at the Occidental Caribe with my family for a week in a premium level suite and therefore had a premium wristband. Room: When we arrived, the premium level suite was not available for my family. Many other families and couples that reserved the same room type had the same issue. We were put in a regular room with two double beds above the lobby. It was SO LOUD, I don't think any of us, including our children (5 and 1), fell asleep until about 1am when they finally turned down the music. After complaining and calling the premium lobby as well as guest services over 20 times, they finally moved us into a premium level suite. The room itself is just ok. Spacious, but needs work. We ended up in a room with a king bed, even after requesting two queen beds and a crib, and waited until 11pm to receive a roll-away bed for our oldest child. The roll-away bed had a mattress that was stained all over, and we received no blankets or pillows to accompany it. The suite had two bathrooms. Neither shower worked properly. One shower only had cold water and the glass door didn't stay closed. The other shower hardly worked, and the water pressure wasn't enough to shower properly as most of the water came out of the bottom faucet. This was not resolved after I complained, and we had to shower like this all week. I truly had a better shower at the outdoor showers by the beach than I did in our room. The room had cockroaches and we found them within the dressers amongst our clothing and in the bathrooms. Given it is a tropical country, I know they exist, but there were quite a few of them in the room. The A/C worked ok, and we were able to stay cool while we were in our room. Premium Level Amenities: The girl that works at the premium level lobby is unhelpful and can be rude. I was better off going to guest services if I needed anything, so I'm not sure what I got out of paying for the premium level services. The premium lobby is also incredibly hot and is not air conditioned. Considering how long you need to wait in there to get anything done, the heat is unbearable at times. The one thing we really enjoyed about being in the premium level is the premium breakfast and lunch that is at a restaurant outside of the normal buffet. The staff that work at the premium restaurant are the best. They are so kind, attentive, and the food is good. They have mimosas in the morning which was a nice touch as they don't have them in the regular buffet. Other than this, we didn't find any additional benefits as premium members but having access to this was huge as the food in the buffet is not the best. Food: As I mentioned, the food at the buffet was just ok. On the Friday, many locals were checking in and there was hardly enough food to go around at lunch. Many containers were empty, and my husband and I did not eat as we could only get enough food for the kids. The food and service at the reserved restaurants were very good. We tried the Dominican (DELICIOUS), Japanese, and Mexican. As a premium member, we had reservations already made for us upon arrival for all 7 days. This was nice, however, we weren't asked what time we wanted and were given a 7:30pm time slot. This was way too late for the kids to eat, and we were told they could not change it as there was nothing else available. This would have been a nice touch had we received an email before arriving asking us for our time preference. Guest services was able to get us a few new reservations, but this is why we were unable to try all of the restaurants. None of the restaurants open until 6:30 which was difficult for us with small kids. We typically eat early and often found ourselves at the snack bar which was primarily fried foods with no variation from day to day. It would have been nice for at least the buffet to open earlier for dinner or stay open later for lunch. Pools and beach: Both pools were nice but I wish there was more shade. You need to go out at 5am to get a cabana or an umbrella and hope that someone does not move your stuff (happened to us). It would have been nice to have a section for premium members with umbrellas or even the option to pay to reserve them. With young kids, it was hard to be out in the sun all day. The music around the pools is good and there is entertainment throughout the day which was fun. The beach was lovely. There were so many chairs available at all times of the day and the water was warm. The waves were strong but that is no fault of the resort. We had a great time jumping over them and there is a wide sandy beach to play on. Entertainment: The entertainment at this resort was one of the best I've seen. The shows were always well done, and the entertainment team is fantastic. Kids Club: Our vacation would not have been the same if the kids club did not exist. Our kids had a fantastic time there, and the staff, Ana and Kenia, are FANTASTIC. They do their best to entertain the children and they are always around with a smile on their faces. It was an air-conditioned space which was nice when going inside from the heat and we were able to drop off our oldest to be babysat there for free if we wanted. They do have paid babysitting services both in the kids club and in your room for children under 4 years old for $15 USD per hour, but we did not use this service. Overall, we may have been able to overlook some of these things if we were not with small children, but we will not be returning based on our experience. Having experienced this resort, I would be willing to spend a bit more money and stay at a nicer place.

Since we arrived on Wednesday, everything has been smooth and awesome. We were scared about the reviews but I have to say that the food was alright, I was expecting worse. Yes, the room decoration might look a bit outdated but who cares! We are going to enjoy the views, the vibe, the food and the people. I personally don’t think that renewing the furniture every now and then will make things better. I like the way it is and you can feel the real Caribbean sense. I love this place because is also good for the money we paid. Everyone is super friendly, from the receptionist who checked us in to the lifeguards at the pools and the beach, We are still here and we hope we can get to dance a bit with Pitufina and the animation team as they look super cool. We can’t wait to come back and we didn’t even left yet! Ps: if you wanna avoid crowds just don’t go when everyone else goes…