The Ocean Coral is a beautiful hotel. It is very clean and all the staff is very nice. It is not however, what I would consider a 5 star hotel.
I arrived early, at about noon. Check-in was at 3pm and I understood that. I went ahead to the front desk and was told that I could probably check-in early at about 1:30. I checked back and was told it would take another 30 minutes. Then another 30 minutes. Then another. I ended up getting my room about 3:30. I assumed that my luggage would be taken up to my room. I later found out that I had to go get my luggage.
My room was very nice. I was surprised to see that the bathroom was very open. The bathtub and sink was in the open area with shower stall and toilet stall. Both stalls had a smoked glass door. I was alone in my room so I was OK with that but there is no privacy for those that will have issues with it. There was a large window beside the bathtub that shown through to the living area. There was an shade that could be pulled but it was transparent. I had a small problem after my first shower because the whole bathroom area floor got covered with water and it had started to run into the hallway of the room. I tried to call down to get someone with a squeegee but no one at the front desk picked up. I waded thru the water and finished getting dressed and went down to ask for someone to clean it up. The front desk guy said that it happens all the time and told me I should have put towels all around the bottom of the shower stall. He acted like I was suppose to know that! I think they should figure out how to make it work the way it is designed to work. I put the towels down with every other shower and did not have another flood. The living area of the room was very spacious and I had no complaints. The maid service was very good.
The food was good. There was not a large variety on the buffets. The food at the Japanese restaurant and the Italian restaurant was good but the service was very slow. There is also a Mexican restaurant but I did not try it. There is a sports bar snack place that had burgers and hot dogs that was OK. The service was not very good in there either.
The entertainment was OK. I have been to many other resorts in Mexico and South America and on the scale of my experiences, it was maybe a 3. There was a theater where a movie was shown early, then the main show at 9:30. The shows weren’t bad. There is not a bar in the theater and not anywhere close.
The pools were beautiful. There were 4 total and only one pool had a swim-up bar. The beach was nice too but there was a lot of seaweed. The staff did a good job raking it up.
The hotel is located between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. The hotel does not offer shuttles to either place. They had a shopping tour offered by the tour companies but it was not flexible. A cab ride to either place is $60 round trip.
All and all, the hotel is nice get away but I think it should not be listed as a 5-star hotel. I t has only been open about 7 months and I think it is still working out some of the kinks.

We stayed at the Ocean Coral 7/3-7/8 and I would rate it a 7 from 1 to 10. The resort is beautiful, the rooms are awesome in looks and comfort. We stayed in room 6302 it overlooked the South Pool which the staff referred to as the adult pool. Upon our arrival check in was a breeze, but we did not arrive until 6:00 PM which at that time alot of people do not normally check it. We got the room exactly that we requested and upon our arrival they had a bottle of champagne chilled along with some chocolate covered strawberries. Which was a nice touch to start with we were celebrating a belated anniversary.
Upon check in we were whisked away to a member of the staff that gave us details on the resort and options for excursions. Also gave you a certificate for a welcome breakfast. This breakfast is a lead into a vacation share, it is really not a time share truly a nice set up option for travel if you like to travel. We did take the tour and listed to them which took about 1 1/2 hours, we declined and there was no high pressure. We opted to take the $70 USD that they offered for our time... If you are a traveler take the time to listen it is not you typical time share.
The staff was pretty good, the majority can get by with basic english.
Food was average, the breakfast & lunch were both buffet and had alot to offer and the food was average. The dinners was the best, the Japenese I did not care for keep in mind all the theme restaurants have a select menu. Service was okay. The Italian was very good, we did not order italian and had the beef tenderloin AWESOME was the best meal we had as a atter of fact went there two nights for dinner and had the same thing it was that good. Service was very slow but what we did receive was good. The Mexican food was very good we had the fajita's and they were very good there refried beans were excellent service was quick and very good.
The bar's they made a good drink and has some higher end stuff, Absolute vodak which I drank but when it ran out it ran out for the day. Bartenders were not bad, we tipped almost all the time for dinner and drinks.
Things that I did not like there was only one bar to go to out side that was open which is the main pool with the swim up bar, busy at time especially during the week end, you had to go all the way over to the North Pools to get towels. This is a fairly large resort and for some it might be a good walk. Amazing that there was only one place to get a drink without going to the lobby.
Yes there was seaweed but you have to expect that with the natural reef and they did keep it cleaned up daily.
We did do snorkling excursion outside the resort Diving Dogs and it was a excellent excursion. They do have people that dont work at the resort that were quite bothersome that want you to go on there excursions, asked us 3 time in one day...... This is very long and if anyone would like to ask a question feel free to email me

My wife and I went on a 10 day trip, originally booking the Royal JR Suite. The beach was great, lots of sand and not rockie. They have plenty of pool space, a little crowded over the week end at the pool bar. The trip for the most part went pritty smooth: the hotel screwed up by telling me that all rooms have a tub and shower insert- they do not. They did correct the mistake the 2ed day after numerous calls and going directly to Guest Services, by upgrading us to a family suite- (Nice). Hint- do not call front desk, you have to physically stand there to get any action.
I ate only at the Bufette's- never got in line for the fancy- pant's only resterants. The food was really good, the selection was limmited. Most of the staff were very friendly, and did what they could do to serve us properly. It seemed that sometimes they just did not have enough staff working.
The hotel has instructors for snorkel and scuba trips right at the pool! I went scuba to the reef just infront of the hotel- it was great (see pics).Sascha Herman, the scuba instructor, was very helpfull.
My wife and I only left the hotel once durring our trip, we spent most of our time in the pool. They have these big bed things outside- they are more comfortable then the beds in the rooms, that are nice to relax in.

Beautiful grounds and lovely landscaping. I really like the way this resort is designed. Lots of four-plexes spread out well, with tons of landscaping.

However: 1. Service was really bad at this resort, from the front desk to the waiters. There was never a bellboy available in the front area, which makes for great fun dragging your luggage 1/4 mile back to your room. There seems to be a serious motivation problem among the staff. At no time did anyone seem even slightly concerned about service. 2. The beach is awful by my standards. I've been going to Cancun since 1982, and this is the worst beach I've ever seen in the area. There's something seriously wrong with the sand in the water next to the beach. When you step into the water, the sand feels muddy and sloppy, just like a lake would feel. If you've been to this area, you know that's just not normal. However, if you walk about a quarter mile south, there is a much nicer beach, with normal Cancun quality sand and water. 3. Even for an all-inclusive, the food is subpar and amazingly repetitive. You can stave off hunger, but don't expect to like much of anything.

The good points: 1. As I said, it's a beautiful place. 2. Nice location between Cancun and PDC, easy to both. You'll be better off with a car, though, if you expect to do much traveling. Cabs would be high in either direction. 3. Most of the other guests were European, with mostly Spanish, Portuguese, and French people , and a few Germans and Poles. For those of us from the States, this is a nice change and an enjoyable diversion.

All in all, a nice place, but the hotel management needs to get the food and service in order. Hopefully, we were just there in a bad or dead time for them. I won't be returning, with so many other choices in the area that don't have these problems. My last trip was in February, 2008, to the Omni in Cancun. For a very similar price, it was a much nicer place with none of these flaws.