Oceano Palace

Some staff was friendly But some people were not

The main needs of this vacation were beach, sand, pool, drinks, food. This fit the bill as the cheapest, direct flight for both my wife and I from BC and my brother and his wife from SK. A RIU this resort is NOT but we knew that going in. We knew the food would not be great, it isn't in the buffet. It's adequate for one visit maybe two but after that too limited and too repetitive. We chose instead to visit one of the smaller restaurants and either the Luna, Pacific Tower or Star Palace from breakfasts and select one of the dinner options each evening. Through that dining experience which was good we met Ramon. What an exceptionally pleasant, knowledgeable, hardworking and catering man. We asked to use the one dining room that was closed to play cards in. It was hard to find a quiet place to get away for that kind of activity. He said absolutely and turned the lights on for us and even asked us what we would like to drink. He even made the drinks, which were all exceptional, himself. Each evening then we asked for dinner that would take us to Ramon. He gave us special treatment and made us very welcome each evening for dinner and our card games. He served us drinks through the evening even while he was managing the dinners. The last evening he made me a dirty martini that was very excellent. Four olives!! If we were to decide to go here again we would choose the Luna Palace to stay in as it is a bit more laid back, nice pool and quieter. Not fault of the hotel but bands play on the beach and are extremely loud. The hotel was also fully booked with local families and associations or teams so very busy. We never were able to use the main pool but the Pacific pool was a good alternative and we stayed on the beach under a Palapa.

Spend the extra couple of hundred dollars as stay ANYWHERE else. The Pros. Staff is friendly although handle very few issues satisfactorily. Booze is plentiful. The Cons (and only a few of them) Two elevators and one was broken all week. Wait times were half hour. Food is absolutely awful. The food on the buffet is unrecognizable or cut up so finally you can only put it in a taco. No carving station. No full piece of meat all week. Lots of refried beans (puke). Hot Dogs seventeen different ways!! Gotta give that nine year old Chef Kudos LOL. There are three A la Cartes. One is a two and half hour supper "experience". Painful. Terrible food and worse entertainment. The Pelican resets every three nights. I haven't witnessed a NY ***** Roast that was so horrendously overcooked!! Quite a feat!! Tried the fish two different times - inedible. I have eaten Icelandic Flat Fish that had more moisture!! That band that belts out on the beach needs to be terminated. So loud So bad. Sounds like the UofS College Nine when they were too drunk to stand LOL. Pool is saturated with children, dirt, empty cups and fine film of ooze on the top of the water. The crowning glory was when we checked out at 11am but our airport shuttle did not pick us up til 3. They cut off our wrist bands and we had NO FOOD OR BEVERAGE privilege's. Very classy. I have travelled lots and I have wrote very few reviews but this trip deserved it. Loud, terrible food and no effort to fix any of it - although that is Mexican way. Like a said spend an extra bit and stay somewhere else Mazatlan is worth the trip.