Background
We recently spent spring break week at Ocean Club. A fair amount of mixed reviews exist on here, so wanted to provide a more recent one for folks.
Booking
Booked ocean room through FSPP, no upgrade available as they were at max capacity as one can expect during spring break. Reminder to book the room you want during busy periods, and if an upgrade is available, cherry on top.
Check-in
Pretty seamless, sit down check-in at desks. Moved quickly, got a welcome drink for ourselves and the kids as our bags were whisked away to our room. We arrived at about noon and room was ready which was nice.
Ocean View Room
Hartford wing, first floor walkout. Definitely not private as you have the walkway between the adult/family pools, villas, gym and kids club so people are always walking outside. However, very convenient for beach and ocean pool access. Luxury oceanfront rooms are in the Crescent wing and provide an unobstructed view but for those with littles, the Hartford wing is more convenient. Rooms are well appointed and updated within the last several years.
F & B
Ate at pretty much every spot on property. Favorite was Ocean Blu for lunch and dinner. Dune was nice, but maybe not necessary for more than one meal. Also, Italian pop-up for lunch by the adult pool leaves some to be desired. We did venture over to Atlantis and ate at Nobu and shake shack, nice to have those options. Also took cabs to Fish Fry and Poop Deck.
Service / Misc.
This is where the hotel has been dinged in the past but I felt that service was great throughout our stay. Everyone from the bell desk, to the poolside towel and food service was always willing and available to help. The few times we requested room service or an item be brought to our room, service always came quickly. When checking out, they were at our door within 2 minutes after calling to retrieve our bags. There was just one time when we felt forgotten about at Dune and had to wait a while for our check but otherwise, I thought it service was top notch. Highlight was when we were walking back to our room and the kids wanted to watch a movie. We ran into the assistant F&B director and asked about a microwave for popcorn, but instead he took our bag of popcorn and returned promptly with a tray decked out with kettle corn, m&ms and gummy bears for the kids to have in our room. Really went above and beyond.
Final thought is around the ocean pool, which has been mentioned here before and is timely considering Alex's recent post about seats at luxury hotel pools. By 9am each day, the seats were occupied with belongings, but very few people. There is very limited seating at this pool, so if you want to visit in the morning you need to keep this in mind. Otherwise, mid to late afternoon offered some more seating options at this pool. Family pool was never a bad spot to hang out either however doesn't offer the view of the ocean pool.
Happy to answer any other questions, but will put on our list to return.