Ocean El Faro, Punta Cana

Just back from a week at El Beso (Ocean El Faro) in Uvero Alto/Punta Cana. Following is my detailed review of my stay. I will break it down by topics for ease of reading. GENERAL: El Beso is the adults only resort/section at Ocean El Faro. El Beso has 300 rooms and El Faro (family side) has 600 rooms. Guests at El Beso can use all the facilities at El Faro but El Faro (even 18+) cannot use the El Beso side. The resort isnt super huge and easily walkable from lobby to beach in about 5-7 (El Faro side). They do have a tram system running continuously from lobby to beach on 2 service roads. Majority of guests at El Beso were older than anticipated with mostly 40-60 and very few in their 20s. CHECK-IN: I arrived at the resort shortly before 3pm with the shared transfer from Sunwing. The bus pulled up at the El Faro front entrance but I was quickly told to get back on the bus as El Beso guests are now being driven directly to the new El Beso lobby/lounge building on the El Beso side. I was the only guest arriving so the concierge quickly grabbed my suitcase and escorted me inside for check-in. This took no more than 5 mins and the concierge took me to my room on a cart. Very smooth arrival. ROOM: I had booked a pool view/garden view suite and had also sent an e-mail to request upper floors in bldg. 11 facing the pool as I was unaware that all suites at El Beso face inward so all the suites are in fact pool view (garden view would refer to some of the suites located in between the 2 pools I presume as they do not directly face one of the pools). I was provided with my request. This room category comes with 2 double beds or a king bed. I was given room 11202 (bldg 11, second floor), a perfect location in front on the lively pool swim up bar. The room comes with 2 double beds, a dresser with plenty of drawers, another desk with a chair, a lounger chair, a 3-seater sofa, the closet is huge with 2 separate hanging closets, more drawers and also serves as coffee station, mini bar and has the safe. The bathroom set up is great with an actual door to the complete room. Then a separate door for the toilet and a separate door for the 2-person shower which has 2 rain showers at each end. A 2-sink vanity with plenty of counter space. Bathroom and shower also have all the necessary toiletries and loads of towels including facecloths. The coffee maker is standard with small filters but OK for that initial cup. Mini bar comes with plenty of water bottles, juices, pop and beer. All the plug outlets work with north American style plugs. There was a good quality hair dryer and a steamer (no iron board which can be requested). Also, all buildings have elevators. Had zero issues all week with AC, hot water, safe, room key (bracelet) and the maid service (Andrea) and the mini-bar staff were great. RESTAURANTS/FOOD: There are definitely plenty of restaurants and food options for all. There are 8 restaurants. Pez Dama is the El Beso exclusive restaurant. Buffet for breakfast and lunch and an a la carte for dinner. I ate there for breakfast most mornings and lunch once. Did not eat there for dinner. There is also Blue Moon which is 18+ on the El Faro side. It is a gourmet restaurant and the only one that requires men to wear long pants and closed shoes. I did not eat there. El Faro also has the Italian, Dolce Vita (great dinner there), Margarita, Mexican (ate twice there), the Steakhouse, had a great Chateaubriand, Sakura, the Japanese teppanyaki (had a great dinner with a fun group of 20 people). And Route 66 which is an American style restaurant/dinner. Great burgers. El Mercado is also the main buffet at El Faro. Other lunch options include the El Beso snack bar which is a creperie and the Ocean Burger Bar near the waterpark at El Faro. Did not have a bad meal anywhere and service was excellent for the most part. A la carte wine (red Spanish) was also quite decent. Finally, there is Mikes coffee shop. One of the largest coffees shop I have seen at any resort. Offers many coffees, teas, health drinks and of course pastries and sandwiches. It is quite busy especially in the morning with lines out the door. Note that 3 of the a la cartes require reservations to be made the morning of with the H10 hotels app (the Italian, the Japanese and the Steakhouse). No issues making reservations on 3 nights. The other restaurants are 1st come 1st serve and there can be a bit of a wait depending on how busy it is. All the restaurants also have indoor, ACd areas and outdoor seating. BARS: Here again, both resorts offer many bars to choose from. The lobby bar is simply Majestic. Seating around the bar and many couches spread around the building. There are servers to provide drinks for those seated around the lobby. There is also the piano bar near the lobby bar. Then there is the Sports Bar, open late. Nice facility with many screens for sports and some tables (games). Located in the main plaza. There are 2 beach bars, one on the El Faro beach and one on the El Beso side near the beach. The El Beso beach bar actually is open late (11pm) and is where they have the weekly White Party which was great. The El Beso side has 2 separate pools with swim up bars. The El Faro has 3 bars. One at each pool and also one swim up bar at the lazy river. Lastly there is the disco bar which opens at 11pm until 2 am. Very busy disco the times I was in there. Lots of fun. BEACH: the beach is actually nicer than I expected. It is man made and not very long but there is an added bonus of having access to a local beach right next to El Beso. This protected lagoon is beautiful with calm ocean protected by a reef. Spent time snorkeling there and saw many fish. The El Beso beach isnt the nicest as the water entry is very rocky but the El Faro beach side is very nice with no rocks so easy water entry there. The ocean was very swimmable the whole week and zero sea weeds. POOLS: as mentioned, there are 2 pools on the El Beso side (actually 3 pools with a small circular jacuzzi pool near the El Beso lobby). The pool located in the middle of the resort is the lively pool where all the games and activities take place. The one near the beach is quieter. There definitely was a towel game being played at the lively pool with Bali beds and shaded loungers being reserved very early in the morning. Not as bad at the quiet pool but as the resort was very busy, all loungers were taken before 11am. Should point out that they hand out a towel card at check-in which must be returned at check-out. There are also 2 large pools at El Faro. Did not spend time there. The lazy river has a lagoon pool. The lazy river is beautiful and takes about 10 mins to go around. There are some orange resort floats available although they are limited so best to bring your own. The waterpark is not very large and is mostly for younger kids. ENTERTAINEMENT: 2 White Parties, one on beach at El Faro side with the kids and a fire show, one on the El Beso side. There are also 2 pool/foam parties at El Beso (Tues and Thurs). Do believe there is one on the El Faro side. Silent disco on Tues in main El Faro lobby. The main theatre is at El Faro. The shows most nights including a very good magic show and the MJ show. It is a large indoor theatre and unfortunately doesnt have a bar or servers so you need to get your drinks next door at the sports bar. Other facilities (at El Faro) include a bowling alley (free) and virtual arcade ($$$). They also have early interactive videos and dancing at the main El Faro plaza (in front of theatre) for kids every early evenings. Lots to do for kids at El Faro. SUPERBOWL: Superbowl was super fun (although the game itself wasnt very good). They have a nice set up on the main plaza (note there is no cover so in case of rain this doesnt work but it was a beautiful night). The plaza has a VIP area with different price packages for drinks and food. Then there is free seating with other screens on the music gazebo in front of the theatre. They also sell different packages for food and drinks for inside the sports bar which could be an option in case of rain. They have a $25/person package in the sports bar which is reasonable. The outdoor packages start at $150 (for up to 10 guests) and go up to $250. The only negative is that they do not have a Superbowl BBQ spread as for other resorts I have visited during Superbowl but luckily the main buffet is right there. However, they wont let you take food out so you have to go and eat then come back out. GYM/SPA: did not go to the spa (located at the main plaza next to the gym) but used the gym a couple of times. It is not very large but has good equipment including some cardio equipment. Very busy in the morning. LIGHT TOWER: there is a beautiful light tower near the beach that has an observation point on top. Took some amazing pictures of the resort, beach and lagoon from up there. TIMESHARE: Premium club is the timeshare at this resort. They do engage folks near the main plaza and near the beach but they are not aggressive. Note that the Premium club offices and lounge are on the second floor of the light tower. CHECK-OUT: check-out was smooth. Handed out the towel card and was provided with check-out slip for the concierge. I had a shared transfer again (was dropped off at the El Beso lobby at check-in) but for some reason, the bus driver didnt want to come down the road so the concierge drove me up to the El Faro lobby where the bus was waiting for me. No biggie (the El Beso lobby only opened 3 weeks ago so this is a new process). OVERALL: I had been looking at El Beso/El Faro for a couple of years and had it booked last year but changes. I must say that I am quite impressed with everything and believe it is one of the best value for price resort I have visited in PC. Yes, the beach is not the greatest and it may be why it is priced lower but everything else certainly warrants more positive publicity. Very happy with my stay there. I have posted loads of photos also for visual reference. Hope this review can assist you in deciding to visit this resort.

Overall good resort. We did not upgrade to privilege and were very pleased with food and drinks and overall service. We had a few minor issues. TV in room stopped working on day 5 of 7 and although I called twice no one came to repair. Route 66 restaurant food was just ok. No ice cream in milk shakes and poor service. Pools were great. Pool bars were great too! We visited with family and grandchildren and the kids water park and lazy river were great! Beach was very nice too!

Great getaway to relax! Marckendry, the beach butler, (need to upgrade to Privilege) will spoil you silly! There are many good food choices. Chef Reynord at the Japanese restaurant is a standout. You dont need reservations at Route 66 and their brisket is really good! If you room attendant is Teresa, your room will sparkle. She does amazing art on the bed and freshens up the room mopping, changing towels it seems like a few times a day! In the afternoon when you need a pick me up, visit the coffee shop or the Besos crepe stand. We liked peanut butter and substituted Nutella instead of honey. There is an ocean front to swim in and st the end of the resort there is a lagoon that is more protected from the wind. (February is very windy). We brought floats and the lagoon was beautiful.

The best Mojitos ever by Luis in the piano bar at H10 Punta Cana. Very friendly and the Mocktails are great too for my 9 yr old daughter. Service very good, so attentive and never miss the attention to detail.