Ocean Blue & Sand

My husband and I spent three nights and four days at the Ocean Blue and Sand and were overall happy with our stay. The resort is an all-inclusive resort that is approximately 20-25 minutes away from the Punta Cana airport. The taxi ride cost $40 to get there. Upon arriving our bags were taken. The main lobby is an open air lobby that has a huge bar area in the middle. You can tell that the grounds of the hotel are well-maintained along with all common areas. Check-in was a little slow because while we were checking-in there were other customers checking out. While we waited they offered us champagne and water. They charge the all-inclusive resort fee at check-in. This includes all drinks, food at the buffets and restaurants, and use of other amenities. They have a program called "Privilege," which includes a butler, top shelf drinks and a few other perks, but we were okay with the standard. While we waited for our room they took us to the main buffet hall so we could eat. After we ate we returned to the front desk and retrieved our room keys. We were told our bags would be brought to our room, which was nice, but it took them almost half an hour to deliver our bags and we wanted to be able to change so we could go to the beach. At this point we had been at the resort for two hours and wanted to start our vacation. The buffet offers an overwhelming variety of choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner. During certain times of the day it does get busy and lines form. For example, at breakfast if you want a custom omelet there was usually a line. At lunch they can prepare fresh sandwiches or pastas, but that also gets busy. In the evenings, to go to the restaurants you do not have to have a reservation except for the Japanese restaurant called Sensai, which happened to be our favorite. Reservations must be made between 11-11:30am. It is first-come, first serve. The grounds of the resort are clean and well-maintained. We stayed in a one bedroom that had two queen beds, a bathroom and balcony that overlooked the pool. There are two huge pools and one even has a swim-up bar. They had events going on each day by the pool. They also have a place to play volleyball on the beach. There are lounge chairs with umbrellas by the beach and a bar. There is also a smaller buffet restaurant by the beach, which is convenient. Towels are provided at a stand by the beach. The entertainment was good and there were typically three young men running the show that were so funny and brought things to life. The piano players in the piano lounge at night were also good. There is a sports bar where you can get drinks, food and watch sporting events. There are seats at the bar and some high top tables. Our favorite place by far was Mike's Coffee House, which is along the "boulevard" with the rest of the restaurants. It is open from 7:30am until 11pm. The smell of fresh brewed coffee is so good and the baristas know what they are doing and are efficient. We never had to wait long to get our coffee whether it was hot, cold or a specialty. They also have tea and smoothies along with pastries and small sandwiches. There is a bowling alley and as long as you have socks they will lend you the shoes and balls. There are also pool tables available for use. Next door to the bowling alley there is a theater where they schedule events. You can check the daily activities calendar. The one downside is service. Some employees were more helpful than others. It also seemed like the expectation to get a tip was very high (even expected almost). I also felt that in the spa or in the presentation given by the H10 employees they did not listen well. I would ask one thing and they would go off on a tangent. Mind you, it was not a language barrier issue because I speak Spanish. There is a casino, but we do not gamble. In the entrance to each building there is a concierge that can answer questions and also call for a golf cart to come and pick you up and take you where you need to go on the resort grounds. We took a golf cart with our bags to the entrance on the morning we were leaving. Check-out was smooth. Overall we had an enjoyable and relaxing time at Ocean Blue and Sand.

We just got back from a week at Ocean Blue and Sand. We enjoyed everything about the resort. We food was amazing, the drinks were great, and pool was huge with a swim-up bar. The grounds were beautiful with fish ponds, ducks, and other animals walking around. We even made friends with a local cat. Our favorite restaurant was the Steak house. I ordered the seared tuna and it was amazing. Everyone in the group said the steak was better at the Italian restaurant. I like the option of sitting inside or outside. The buffet was good for breakfast and lunch. Our favorite station was the pasta at Villa Marina. The beach is small and does have the beach erosion things in the water but all you have to do is walk a little to your left or to the right for the amazing view. We shopped at the local market next door and had no problems. We were not approached by a single time share person which is a good thing. The only issue I had was with some of the security guards trying to talking to the teenage girls which I thought was inappropriate. The girls were a little creeped out about it. At no time did we feel unsafe just uncomfortable. I would definitely recommend the Ocean Blue and Sand.