Is Ocean Coral Spring Hotel Worth It? Elle’s Review

Ocean Coral Spring is a luxurious family-friendly all-inclusive resort located near Falmouth, one of Jamaica’s smaller resort towns. This 513-room resort is owned and operated by the H10 Hotel chain, which is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. Ocean Coral Spring opened in late 2019 as a five-star resort, and while it has great reviews online, I’ve heard mixed feedback about the property from locals. That being said, I had the rare opportunity to put these reviews to the test on a 3-day, 2-night retreat with my husband’s company earlier this month! So, read on to learn more about my experience.

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Where is Ocean Coral Spring Located?

Ocean Coral Spring Hotel is located 13km from Falmouth, one of Jamaica’s smallest but emerging resort towns. That being said, the property is often incorrectly advertised as being located in Montego Bay when it’s actually an hour (44km) away. Montego Bay is Jamaica’s most visited city and home to the island’s largest international airport, so I get wanting to “latch on” to the tourism appeal but it is misleading marketing. Plus, Falmouth has so much to do that there’s no need for that! All-inclusive hotels are designed to keep tourists at the resort which prevent them from experiencing the island authentically. For those inclined to explore, some great attractions to check out are:

• Rafting on the Martha Brae River (12km).
• Luminous Lagoon (8km), one of the world’s rarest glow-in-the-dark lagoons.
• Historic Sites: the Persian Water Wheel (12km), Stewart’s Castle (5km).
• The Falmouth Artisan Village (13km).

Photo-op in the lobby at Ocean Coral Spring

I was my husband’s plus-one for his company retreat, which we keep missing every year because we’re overseas for my birthday! This year, we delayed our international travel plans to visit this resort and I must say, the property was quite stunning! First impressions: the lobby was beautiful, spacious and grand. There’s a bar in the lobby which means the welcome drink options were extensive: more than the typical rum punch and fruit juice offerings at other hotels. The bellmen at the lobby were very helpful and attentive, even if I did overhear a staff interaction which was less than stellar. We arrived early but our rooms were available by check-in time at 3pm.

Pro Tip: Book travel insurance before your trip.

The Rooms at Ocean Coral Spring

Our room was modern, spacious and attractive. It included a four-poster king sized bed, TV, sofa, table, chair, a patio with a hanging egg chair (my favourite!), closet, safe, coffee-maker and a mini-fridge stocked with water, beer and soft drinks. The bathroom was basic with a standard tub, rain shower, his & her sink and water closet. There were no irons provided, a bummer. When we called front desk, we were told that steamers are included but the one in our room was missing. We were promised that one would be taken to our room right away, but it didn’t get there until the following afternoon– not the best first impression. The air conditioning and hot water worked fine, but Wi-Fi was unreliable.

Restaurants & Dining at Ocean Coral Spring

The property has a total of seven restaurants. During our three days and two nights, we dined at four of them. Two were buffet-style, namely Martha’s Market (international) and La Locanda (Italian), while the other two were a-la-carte: Red Snapper (Caribbean) and Sakura Teppanyaki (Oriental). Unfortunately, Red Snapper was a disappointment. Caribbean cuisine is always rich and flavourful but instead, their food was bland. That was also the consensus of everyone else from our group. My husband and I were excited for Sakura as teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine where food is cooked in front of diners on a griddle. Our chef was friendly and lively, and I really enjoyed the sushi, grilled shrimp and beef. The chicken and fried rice were so-so. Also, organization was poor as we didn’t get seated until about 40 minutes after our reservation time.

Some of the dishes we had

Martha’s Market was great– a wide variety of buffet options were available throughout our stay but it was often hot and crowded. As such, the highlight for me was La Locanda. On our final morning, we saw a long queue at Martha’s Market and decided to stroll around restaurant avenue to see if there were any alternatives for breakfast. Through a stroke of luck, we discovered that La Locanda, typically an Italian a-la-carte restaurant, was open and serving buffet breakfast! And, better yet, we had the restaurant to ourselves! We adored the vintage decor, and the buffet options were piping hot and delicious, albeit limited. The servers were great and super attentive since well, we were the only diners! P.S. My husband’s coworkers had rave reviews about Route 66, but we didn’t get around to dining there.

Inside La Locanda Restaurant at Ocean Coral Spring

Entertainment at Ocean Coral Spring

Entertainment options include: tubing down the lazy river, splashing about in the swimming pool or two Jacuzzis, dancing at the disco, and checking out the nighttime show, bowling alley, sports bar and pop-up events hosted by the entertainment team. We didn’t get around to bowling, but the disco was great– especially when the DJ switched the music to dancehall and things got pumping! I enjoyed the pool and swim-up bars, but please note: the maximum depth was only 3-feet. This, along with a fantastic waterpark and slide, were perfect for children but as a grownup, I felt left out the water activities. Tubing was fun but tubes were scarce; each day we had to wait for extended periods to get one. Finally, the beach. The sand was soft, white and powdery, but the sea– let’s just say, if you think the pool is shallow, don’t bother visiting the beach! Maximum depth within the buoys was maybe knee depth. That being said, they had a hammock (pictured above) which I quite enjoyed.

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Wrap Up

Ocean Eden Bay (sister property) at night

All in all, Ocean Coral Spring is a beautiful hotel but it wasn’t as memorable as previous all-inclusive hotel stays I’ve had in Jamaica, namely: Grand Palladium, Couples Tower Isle, Hilton Resort, Iberostar Resort and Holiday Inn (now rebranded to Catalonia Montego Bay Hotel). Then again, if you’ve followed me for some time, you’ll realize that all-inclusive hotels are not my travel modus operandi anyway. I love exploring destinations as authentically as possible, immersing myself in the culture without the sterility of all-inclusive resorts. However, I could see how this resort would be perfect for children and persons with limited mobility. The property was easy to navigate, and had lots of ramps. Are all-inclusive hotels your vibe and have you stayed/would you stay at Ocean Coral Spring? Are there any all-inclusive hotels in Jamaica which I must visit? Sound off in the comments section below! ‘Til next time.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:

• Couples Tower Isle (all-inclusive)
• Strawberry Hill Resort (boutique)
• Rockhouse Hotel in Negril (boutique)
• Escape to Runaway Bay at These 3 Villas
  

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