Ocean Eden Bay

Activities were okay, room size was okay. Toni-ann and Kaci gave us really good service. Thank you both. Most of the workers appeared sad and unhappy. The bathroom was dirty- shower to be specific. Sink was clogged. Furniture was not clean. The mini bar was empty on day of arrival. We called the front desk but no one answered the phone. We went to the front desk and were told someone would come to the room with water - we waited for over an hour and had to go sit at the front desk to get water. The food was okay. Fruits were not fresh for smoothies.

Stay was made much better because we met Moses on day one. Moses was the shining star and guiding light for our trip. Go to the Marlin Restaurant for lunch with an Ocean view second to none. Ask for Moses and say hello from us. You will not regret it.

I stayed at Ocean Eden Bay from Feb 11–18, and this was my second time at this resort. My first time was a little over a year ago with a group, so I already felt comfortable coming back ,even doing a solo trip this time. It honestly felt nice coming back to somewhere familiar. From the moment I arrived, everything went smoothly. Tevin, the bellman, was welcoming and professional and I actually remembered him from my last trip, so it was really nice seeing him still there. That stood out to me. Kaci at the front desk made check-in quick and easy. Tevin brought my luggage up, gave me a quick refresher of the resort, and told me to enjoy everything… which I did. My room was clean and comfortable. I really enjoyed the king-size bed. The only thing was the balcony there were quite a few bugs on the ceiling and walls. They weren’t bothering me, just not the nicest to look at. Housekeeping kept cleaning them off, but they kept coming back. I’m assuming maybe from the hurricane months ago. Either way, it didn’t affect my stay. I have to say, I enjoyed the entertainment team more this time than my last visit. There was definitely more going on by the pool. You could tell they were really trying to keep the energy up and include everyone. They even got me to step out of my comfort zone and join in on activities, which I appreciated. Shoutout to Kyash, Kitty, Adrian, Billy, and Deidra …they were great. My trip honestly wouldn’t have been the same without Jason W. at the lobby bar. He’s talented, professional, friendly, and very attentive. You can tell he takes pride in what he does. Also shoutout to Tiesha, Junior, and Angus for working alongside him. The steakhouse is still my favourite restaurant on the resort, always good and the staff are super friendly. The Indian restaurant was my second favourite. I preferred the buffet on the Ocean side over the Eden side. One thing I would suggest is switching up the menu a bit more at Marlin and Red Snapper, since it stayed the same all week. Also want to shoutout Odette at the towel bar, Sheeka from the steakhouse, and my housekeeper (I wish I remembered her name) she was so kind. Checkout with Tyrese was quick and easy. Ransford helped with my luggage and even remembered me from my last trip, which was really nice and made leaving a bit sad. Overall, I would recommend Ocean Eden Bay for both group trips and solo travel. I felt safe, welcomed, and taken care of the whole time. I’ll definitely be back.

We’ve visited Jamaica many times over the years but this was our first visit to this area and to this resort. My husband and I booked the ocean view room but honestly never really used our balcony which was quite large and spacious. We love to stay by the pool until late evening so using the balcony wasn’t a priority. The chairs weren’t the most comfortable either. The rooms are very large and beautifully decorated. The amount of storage and closet space was amazing and well appreciated. Hate living out of a suitcase! The closet area also had the coffee/tea area, fridge (stocked daily) and the safe. The bathroom was lovely with double sinks, large soaking tub (never used), walk in shower with rain head and wand, and a separate toilet room. Our housekeeper, Tishelle, did a beautiful job cleaning and freshening our room every day. Always made sure we had plenty of supplies, fresh towels, tissues, etc. The food at the resort was delicious and we loved the buffet on Eden Bay side where we stayed. A big shout out to Kamara who remembered us and how to spell our name and my allergy. Above and beyond service! The variety of foods was great and we took advantage of the fresh wok cooking for stir fry many times! I have a fish allergy and upon check in they gave me a card to take with me to all restaurants. They are very good about making sure you are comfortable with making your own choices or they can have someone help you. A few times I asked the chefs to prepare my shrimp separately away from the fish and no problem at all. Prepared in a clean pan away from the grill fish was prepared on. Also on seafood night the chef preparing sushi made me a veggie roll all for me to be safe. We only went to the Sakura Japanese hibachi once and it was delicious. Normally a favourite for us not only for the food but for the atmosphere meeting people and chatting. Not so easy here as it’s 20 people at one station with 4 stations total. Very loud and chaotic at times. Some of the children at our table seemed overwhelmed. For lunch we enjoyed the Marlin restaurant. Beautiful views on the patio to enjoy your lunch and food was very good. Entertainment at night was the least favorite of our time. We had one night in the Senses theatre for a free night to see Michael Jackson show. The sound was awful and so distracting it was hard to enjoy. The performances were good and the MJ of the show did very well. Too bad sound was not. Other than that the entertainment was just in “the boulevard “ of Eden Bay or Coral Spring. Very little seating. Most nights it seemed like it was the guests entertainment like game show or karaoke. Disappointed no large theatre area like most resorts have with a nightly show. If you stay with family there are many different options for you but for my husband and I who like to just have a nice show after dinner it wasn’t the best. The pools are amazing and plentiful at this resort. We stayed on the Eden Bay side. Such a huge pool! Many areas to enter and sit or play volleyball or so the aquasize (I enjoyed this every day…great fun and great way to meet people). We liked just walking the lengths of the pool (over 300 Ft) as no beach to do our walks. Beach is man made, small, and very rocky. Chairs at the beach and the pool do go quickly in the early morning especially if you want shade. Most people did use the chairs they saved at least not too often did we see chairs saved but unused. Entertainment crew always busy with different activities going on but didn’t harass you if you just want to relax. Shout out to Billy and Kayche(cash with a K!) We had a lovely relaxing vacation but this resort is much larger than we prefer so probably wouldn’t return. Go and enjoy! If you have any issues go to the front desk and we found them very accommodating. Booking restaurant reservations almost impossible as Privileged rooms get priority so unless you eat at 5:00 or 9:00 you’re out of luck. All around a beautiful place to enjoy some sun and fun!

I had read a lot of reviews on both Google and Trip Advisor before I went and noticed some themes, so let me first address the concerns that other people had raised that I DID NOT experience: Room type and location - I had no issues with this. I was given the exact room type I had booked, and the request I had sent in by e-mail about a specific building was honoured. So in short, I got exactly the room location I wanted, and I was thrilled with it. It was hands-down the best part of my stay. Room being assigned twice - No issue here. I actually brought a cheap doorstop to wedge underneath my door anytime I was in my room, because I was so worried by other reviews that another guest would randomly enter my room after it had already been assigned to me. This never happened, and nobody ever tried. Review "farming" - Nobody ever asked me to mention them by name in a review to get them a bonus. I was only ever asked to give a review twice - once at the Italian restaurant (by someone other than my server, and not until I was done my meal), and once at checkout. That was it. Other than that, I could complete reviews in the app if I wanted, but there was zero pressure. The timeshare pitch - I was invited once to the infamous "welcome breakfast" when I was in the lobby to confirm my return transfer. I politely declined, and that was it. Nobody ever asked me again. Early morning phone calls reported by others never happened. Consistently rude service - Absolutely not. 90% of the staff in all areas were wonderful. Occasionally came across someone who seemed unhappy or annoyed, but this was rare. There are other complaints people have made that I agree with, and some I have of my own: - Yes, the beach is rocky. That being said, seaweed was minimal. I actually swam more in the ocean here than I usually do, but yes, water shoes are required. - The chair hoarding is a problem, and staff need to do more to clear belongings off chairs that have been "saved" for hours without being used. - Balcony furniture is uncomfortable and needs to be upgraded. Lounge chairs would be appreciated. - Privilege value is mixed. I thought it was worth it to have the priority restaurant reservations and exclusive areas, but I first heard from my butler on the LAST DAY. And then she blamed me for not reaching out enough to let her know I was there. I had sent at least 3 messages to the WhatsApp, but apparently that was not enough. - Food was up and down but in general the quality was very good. Obviously your experience is going to be determined by what you ordered, so I'm not surprised that everybody has different opinions on where the food was best. I enjoyed the butter chicken at Thali the most; the lasagna at La Locanda was disappointing. - Room interior was only okay. Did feel dated and not fully clean despite being fairly new. My room A/C could be set at any temperature I wanted, but the only thing that controlled how much cold air I got was the speed of the fan. So setting a temperature did nothing. - Not being able to get bottled water from anywhere except the minibar in your room is silly. I don't like people in and out of my space, so I had the Do Not Disturb sign up most of the time; eventually of course I ran out of water and couldn't get any more unless I took the sign down. Overall, I thought it was a great resort for the price point. I would gladly have gone back had it not been for one thing: I got a sunburn in the shade. The privilege Bali beds cannot be trusted to filter out enough UV to keep you safe. I put on SPF 50 in the morning and stayed in the shade except for a brief swim, and by 1pm I could tell I was burning and had to leave for my room. I am very pale, so if I can't trust the shade, that's not good! Sad because this resort does have a lot of potential and there were many things I really enjoyed about it, but this is unfortunately a dealbreaker for me. The palapas can be trusted, but there aren't nearly enough of them because of the already-mentioned chair-hoarding. My balcony got great shade, but the furniture wasn't comfortable. So if one of these things was fixed, I would probably be happy to return.