We chose OCT after researching the resort on Trip Advisor and finding an affordable price for our vacation. Since we were only going for a week, we wanted a resort that wasn't going to be 1 1/2 hour from the airport like some of the resorts in the Maya area. This was perfect since it was about a 20 minute ride directly.

We had a late flight, so when we arrived we were taken directly to our room after a quick check in. I had emailed the hotel and requested a "room with a view" and was pleasantly surprised to get exactly that. We had a garden view room on the 3rd floor that had ocean view as well. I had also told the hotel that we were there to celebrate our 20th anniversary and we were so happy to have received a bottle of wine and glasses with a special note from the hotel congratulating us on our anniversary. Nice touch.

Our room was huge with a king size bed and area with a couch. The decor had an "Asian" feel to it. The bathroom had two sinks and a separate glassed in shower and toilet. It took me a few minutes after taken everything in to realize that our room didn't have a bathtub. This was a little disappointing since us girls like our baths. But I did make due with just the shower. I found this surprising since no where on the hotels web site did we see that the junior suites would only be equipped with a shower. The only other disappointment that I found was that the balconies are on a timer, to have their lights go out before 11:00 pm. There is no switch in the rooms to turn the light off and on. I like to sit and relax and read on the balcony. This is one of the things that I actually look for when booking a hotel is a balcony.

The hotel is equipped with four different pool areas. There is the quiet pool, the bar pool, the activity pool and the kiddie pool. We staked out our spot at the activity pool during our week and enjoyed watching the activities. We didn't have any issues getting loungers during the week that we were there. We are early risers and we were down at the pool by 8:30 every day so there wasn't any problems.

The beach area is well maintained though we didn't spend much time on the beach since we are more pool people. I did notice that the water isn't the nicest in this area, but we knew that coming here since we researched the area. If you are expecting to snorkel right off the shore and see crystal clear aqua water then it will be a disappointment. The water is murky at best. But the sand is powdery white and they rake the beach daily from the washed up seaweed. Yes, there is seaweed. It is the ocean. Enough said about that. If you do desire to snorkel, then there are trips that you can book directly with the hotel that will take you out to the reef. We didn't do any trips. It was our plan just to relax and enjoy each others company.

The food was great. We never had any problems finding things to our liking. Yes, there were a few items that we tried and preferred not to eat, but we were more than happy with the selection of food. You have to remember that the hotel is catering to all of their guests(Europeans, Canadians, Americans etc.) and things that you may not like, the guest beside you might enjoy.

We only tried one of the specialty restaurants. We went to the Crepe restaurant which is located at the quiet pool kinda off the beaten path. We enjoyed it. We personally like the buffet because of the variety of food to choose from so this was the only reason why we didn't decide to go to any of the other specialty restaurants. I can't say too much on how the reservation system works since we didn't have any experience with it.

We did enjoy Mike's Cafe. It is a wonderful little coffee house. They have different types of coffee... espressos, lattes, cappuccino etc. and different flavoured smoothies. They served sandwiches at lunch time and awesome cakes in the evening. Their cheesecake is to die for. Yummmmmm!!!!

The way the resort is set up it is easy to navigate around. Everything is central to the main lobby. All of the restaurants including the buffet is located directly below the lobby. We liked the fact that you didn't need a tram just to get around the resort. Since we were there for only a week, we enjoyed that we knew where everything was the first day after doing some exploring. The hotel also gives you a welcome envelope at check in and there is a map of the resort in the envelope. Use it. It will help you the first day.

In the evenings, there is a list of scheduled events to take place. We did go to the show twice. Unfortunately, we did not stay long either night. After the first show we thought that we would give it another shot and go again but we could not enjoy the show because it was way too loud!!! We are both in our early 40's and I think we both suffered from temporary hearing loss.

The resorts grounds are beautiful and so well kept up.Their attention to detail did not go unnoticed. In my personal opinion, this resort should be a five star based on the cleanliness alone. It might not be the most ritzy hotel, but it is beyond one of the cleanest resorts that we have stayed at and we have been to quite a few places in the caribbean. The maids and service people do a wonderful job and should be commended on doing just that.

We were happy to leave tips for the wonderful service we did get from the maids, the pool side drink service and restaurant service. To some it might not be necessary to do so since it is all inclusive; but a small gesture of appreciation goes a long way. The staff put in very long days and should be recognized for the services that they provide with I might add, great attitudes.

I personally would not pay the extra money for the privileged section. I don't think that the bonus' out weigh the amount of $ that you pay for the services. Some of the alcohol that was considered "top shelf" quality is comparable in price to what was being served to regular paying guests here at home. The butler service, I can do without. To each their own; some guest may think that the services are worth the extra money but I wouldn't upgrade. I was happy with what was offered at the price we paid.

We did have the experience of a 10 hour delay on our flight back home which has no effect on how we graded the hotel. We were picked up at the hotel as expected but on our travels to the airport we found out that we were being put up at another hotel for the night rather then spend the night at the airport. Even though things weren't exactly organized and we had to push to get some answers from our Sunquest rep., we were happy not to be sitting in an airport for 10 hours. We found out that it was a last minute decision and that 127 guest were being detoured to this same hotel. Being that it was unexpected, it was nice to be able to park our heads and try to sleep for a couple of hours instead of being stuck at the airport all night. We made the best of the situation, realizing that the flight coming in to Cancun that day, also experienced the flight delay and lost their time coming to their vacation destination. It didn't seem so bad since we were leaving. You can always find things to complain about if you look for things to complain about. You always have to look at the brighter side of things.

We did have a wonderful time at this hotel and we would definitely recommend it to family and friends and would not think twice about returning to this hotel.

We traveled January 25--February 1, 2012 Our room 19-108 was spacious and clean. Just watch out for the wild pressure in the shower lol.
All the restaurants were great we liked all the food. Expecially the burgers by the pool for lunch from Rico's. The workers all treated us with kindness. Salvadore pool bar at night, Rocio pool bar, Vito Lobby bar, Paty Lobby bar, Guillermo Mexican Restaurant, Michelle and Hector with the activites, and to all that made our vacation so relaxing a great big thank you. I loved being able to walk the beach for long streaches and can"t wait to go back and see everyone.

My husband and I stayed at Ocean Coral from Jan 27th to Feb 3/12. We are seasoned resort travelers, and thought this was the nicest resort that we have ever stayed at. It is rated a 4.5 star resort, and it definitely lives up to it’s rating.

Privilege:
We stayed as Privilege guests, and it was definitely worth the upgrade. From the moment we got off the bus, we were treated like Royalty. We were escorted straight to the Privilege check in where the first thing they did was offer to get us a drink from the bar. They gave us beautiful bracelets, and explained the Privilege package. Our personal butler, Christopher, took us to our spacious, clean room. The upgraded amenities ranged from toothbrush and toothpaste to a razor and shaving cream, and everything in between. The table in the living area had a beautiful plate of pastries, fresh fruit, and a bottle of red wine waiting to welcome us. The balcony had a large Jacuzzi tub and a shower and we had a beautiful ocean view (I believe that all rooms face the ocean, but it may be difficult to see it if you were on the lower floor.). Our fridge had pop, fruit juice, beer, an assortment of mini bottles of liquor, and snacks. We had internet available in the room. The bedding had high quality sheets and we had a pillow menu with a selection to satisfy everyone’s preferences. Our package included a lobster dinner, which we could utilize at our convenience. Access to the Privilege Lounge gave us the option of a la carte breakfast and dinner, and snacks throughout the day. We were able to make reservations at all the a la carte restaurants which meant that we didn’t have to line up to get in. The beach area had padded loungers, everyone got a pallapas, and as soon as you were settled in your spot, Enrigue came over with a bucket of ice filled with bottled water which he replenished as needed, and he came by frequently to take our drink orders. We, also, had access to top shelf liquor. We celebrated a special occasion while there, and Christopher made sure that the kitchen new. After dinner, they brought out an amazing platter of fruit cut into swans and roses, pastries, and a congratulatory wish written on the plate in chocolate. While we were at dinner, Christopher was busy decorating our room with rose pedals and swan towels. It was beautiful. Thank you Christopher

Beach and pools:
Unfortunately, the beach is the resorts only downfall, but this isn’t really the resort’s fault. I have never seen so much seaweed on any beach. The problem is due to the fact that they are so close to one of the largest coral reefs. They do have a tractor that goes by several times a day to try and clean it. The tractor only does so much, however, and still leaves seaweed a couple inches high. It is never completely cleaned. I think the only way to do a good job here, would be to have it manually raked 2 or 3 times a day. The beach area is very large though, so I know that this would be a large undertaking, but it would definitely make a world of difference. Outside of that, the sand is white and soft. You can walk for miles in either direction (Puerto Morales is about a 5 km walk.)
The pools are clean and beautiful, and there are 4 separate pools with different themes (quite, party, activity and kids.)
I know some of the previous reviews complain about the lack of loungers. They have brought more loungers in and there is absolutely no problem getting one at any time of day, whether at the pool or beach (Privilege or not).

Entertainment:
The theatre is small, but they were at full capacity when we were there, and there always seemed to be sufficient room. The entertainment was very impressive for a resort, and you could tell that the staff really enjoyed their jobs.
They didn’t have a disco on the resort. Instead, they had outdoor entertainment by the pool, that included DJ, Karaoke or live bands, and one night they had a beach party. It drew large crowds and was a lot more fun than an empty disco. Well done.
During the day, they did have some fun games by the party pool, but outside of that, there wasn’t much happening. Most resorts have a theme song and dance that they get guest to join in. This may be cheesy, but it’s fun and gets larger groups of people involved. This resort didn’t have this, and it’s something they may want to consider.
The dive centre was awesome, and took excellent care of us. Kudos to them. If you are planning to dive, this is an amazing coral reef where we saw sting rays, beautiful coloured fish, and gorgeous coral just 15 minutes offshore.

Food:
Awesome! How many resorts have caviar on the buffet? In the morning, the buffet had a table set up with ingredients to make your own Bloody Mary, and at night, they offered chocolate fondue. There was a large selection and something for everyone. The Fusion restaurant (Privilege) had savory food with an excellent presentation and even offered many healthy options. The Grill was very good, but make sure you order your steak well done as medium means blue to them lol. The Italian restaurant was one of our favorites, and being Italian, we know Italian food. We didn’t have time to try the Mexican or Creperie, but I’m sure they were good as well. And the resort is laid out in such a way that everything is within close proximity no matter where your room is.

Staff:
Hats off to: The manager, Gabriella, who responds to all special requests and does her best to accommodate; Christopher, who goes out of his way to make you feel important, and make your special occasion extraordinary. I’m sure he will be a manager one day. Our attentive and friendly waiter Jorge at the Fusion Restaurant; Enrique, our server on the beach, who provided the best service; Denise from the entertainment team, who encouraged us to get up and dance and made us feel included; and the rest of the staff who were friendly and courteous. Muchas gracias!!!

If you would like any additional information, please feel free to message me.

Hotel is beautiful and good designed., but has mould problem in most of the rooms. No chanse to exchange room .Food is good, but nothing special. Good drinks only for people paying extra for better room. Beach full of weeds.It is more than one hour walking to Puerto Moreles.