Marina de Oro

Some of the staff were the nicest part of our stay. We’re grateful to Alvaro, Rosa, Migail, and Juan at the La Palapa buffet. Juan is trying hard to learn English, and it’s very cute. Daniel at the Italian restaurant was kind and helpful. Our favorite was Aby, who saw how frustrated we were and went out of her way to cheer us up and make the vacation more enjoyable with her special drinks. Martin helped change our room and book all our restaurants. He wasn’t very nice at first, but seemed to realize pretty quickly that our frustration could cost him quite a lot. We were moved to a decent room. Even with those people, the problems outweighed the good by a lot. The family room area faces a busy city street, where trucks start unloading every morning at 7 AM or earlier. Those rooms were very worn and seemed last in line for care. We found a giant cockroach, then tried to stay positive. That lasted two days, until we felt the Japanese à la carte restaurant hosts had tried to scam us over a bottle of wine. It was ugly and disgusting, and trying to pull that over on us was cheap and beyond common sense. The beach is public, so hundreds of vendors come through looking for someone to sell to. Three approaching at once can wear down even a patient guest, and when you ignore them, they touch you to get your attention. It’s hard to enjoy the beach peacefully. Jetskis also enter the swimming area, which is kind of fenced, and try to sell rides there. That felt unsafe, especially with little kids. When asked to leave, they were rude. Security said they couldn’t guarantee safety because the beach is federal property, and if a jetski hit someone they’d call the police and make a report. The pools, especially the kids’ pool, were dirty and worn. Our daughter will have a scar for the rest of her life after using one of the slides. The à la carte booking system doesn’t work. Everything is booked within a minute of opening, but when you walk past the restaurants, they’re half empty. There are also lines for the buffet, something I’ve never seen elsewhere. It was sad to see families with little kids leave the line for Christmas dinner. The negatives outweighed the positives massively. Don’t waste your money, because you could be very disappointed.

The spa was good, the bartenders were nice, and the water park is great for kids. The main buffet service was good too. But this was the noisiest, busiest resort I’ve ever visited. There are beach vendors every two minutes, and music from different venues constantly overlaps. The food and drinks are very basic. Booking an à la carte restaurant is frustrating: reservations open at 9am and seem to last for just a minute. Why offer it if you don’t intend to deliver?

Every time we eat at Fujiyama, we have a wonderful dinner and atmosphere. Christian does a great job managing the restaurant and staff. Our servers Martin, Julio, and Javier are fantastic, taking care of us with smiles and friendly personalities.

The restaurant was completely packed, but Kristian still went out of his way to find us a table. He made us feel welcome and well looked after, with attentive, friendly, and professional service all evening. He really stood out and made our visit special. We had a wonderful time at Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant, and we’ll definitely be back!