Excellence Oyster Bay

My husband and I were at EOB the first week of September. Weather was excellent. The grounds well kept. The workers were very kind and hospitable. The rooms well kept! This resort is beautiful and long. We were on bldg #7 and I think it might have been the farthest away from the main bldg. The sargassum came in on a Thursday morning, but since they are constantly cleaning up the beach we were in the water by the afternoon. Resort was not full, so there was never an issue with getting a seat at either the beach or the main pool. It would have been nice to have live music or something different like some l Kind of dance group or a swimming routine for entertainment. However seating is very limited at the Excellence pool. This is our 4th Excellence resort and I would rate this a resort an 8 for several reasons. The buffet breakfast did not stand up to the other Resorts. Options just were not there. One morning they had no bacon, the fruits were limited, and no mango. Certain things you forward to when you go to Jamaica. A lot of the dishes were not labeled. It almost seemed liked they were short of help. I’m a Bloody Mary person but there seemed to be a problem with them getting tomato juice. Also they were out of limes the whole week. Items on the menu like caviar and foie gras(spelling), they did not have!

Excellence club- we were told we are Gold members. Unless you asked you don’t know what that entitles you to. Flowers- didn’t happen Gift- didn’t know what that was supposed to be. By Wednesday there were to hats laying on the dresser when we returned late afternoon and in the closest there was a beach bag placed on the shelf(which you don’t take home). A bottle of wine was also placed on the table with no cork screw. I went to the Excellence club and told them there was no cork screw, again on Thursday and Friday. Excellence club dropped the ball. House keeping would remove the dirty towels but not replace the face cloths or the bath mat. There are no irons, they use steamers with distilled water. If the bottle is empty…… fill it up! These are not major concerns but they add up. When you pay your hard earned money to come here, you don’t want these issues which could easily be solved and taken care of from the beginning! I felt the food in the restaurants we’re ok! I would to thank Rodney at the Excellence bar, Christopher and Dennis at the lobby bar. These guys were fun to be around and make excellent drinks.

This is such a beautiful resort that I would love for it to be a 10. I Love the Excellence brand, I just want it to as excellent as the other Excellence Resorts!

The excellence club itself is not inviting but has a decent breakfast spot (Magna). A lot of the staff at the resort don’t seem happy to be there, it was not the welcome home “vibe” that you usually get in Jamaica. Horace was my favorite person at resort, he was happy, friendly, and just felt like “home.”

The food is mostly unseasoned and/or overcooked. The breakfast buffet is a disappointment overcooked omelets, very few labels, so you don’t know what you’re eating. Food that seemed like it should’ve been cool was warm. Most restaurants seem warmer than outside. I was so excited for the lobster tail and it was terrible each time I tried it , very overcooked and unseasoned. Spice is the best restaurant there!! Atmosphere, food, and service! The jerk hut is good but inconsistent on how they season or make the sauce. The main pool- the jerk burrito is good!

The water is beautiful and you can definitely see fish (my highlight of the trip). The best part of the beach is between the Villas and the main food area, it’s quiet, and the water is so clear. However, it’s far from both bars and the beach attendant for that area is almost non-existent. We had to stop someone to find out how to get service. She took our order onetime but never returned.

We stayed in beach house (BH) 1202, it has an awesome patio and great views of the ocean. (BH’s 1-9 seem have the clearest water). Our BH had a dedicated cabana but it’s not as described, as you have to walk a little ways to it and there isn’t a topper on it for shade. The inside of the BH needs to be painted (walls are bubbling), the drains gurgle, and it has flying gnats and ants. I requested service for the bugs twice after the second time I decided not to call back since when the guy showed up he asked me what I suggested. If you have a travel iron take it because they only have steamers and they smell like mildew.

This place could use a little more customer service training, you feel like you’re bothering people, you receive inconsistent or inaccurate information.

The grounds are beautiful and they really tried to get the seaweed up but I’m not sure why they didn’t use a small tractor instead of having one person raking it all day. The restaurant decor is nice. They put on really good shows, the Michael Jackson and Bob Marley tribute shows were excellent.