My family of 5 had a great time at OBBR (our kids are adults, 19, 23 and 24). We arrived on 7/31/25 and departed on 8/5/25. This resort is not for everyone, so let me be clear: #1. If you are looking for a true beach resort, OBBR is not for you. There is a small beach, but it's not useable. The beach is absolutely loaded with the sargassum that is threatening the rest of the Caribbean. I don't even think we would have utilized the beach if it had been clear of seaweed. It's not the turquois water you envision when you think of the Caribbean. #2. If you are looking for waitstaff to come take your drink order as you lounge by the pool, this place is not for you. If you want something from the bar, you have to get it. The bar is a few steps from the pool. #3. If you are looking to be able to walk out of the resort and find a bunch of shops and restaurants, OBBR is not for you. This resort is very secluded. It is on the opposite end of the island from the airport. You will need a car to get anywhere. There are two restaurants at the resort, but that gets tiring after a while. We ate at Infinity for lunch the first day. Great calamari. Everything else was average. We at dinner at the Veranda Bistro twice. We liked that better. Sometimes the smell of the decaying seaweed is a bit overwhelming there. We didn't notice it the first night, but the second night we did. Fun Fact: You can see Sylvester Stallone's house on the hill from the Veranda Bistro.
We didn't care about any of the above. The resort is bunch of buildings, but the two rooms they gave us were in the reception building, directly over the bar - 1114 and 1115. The rooms were decorated very pretty and were quite spacious. There was a king bed on the first floor as well as the kitchenette (dishes, glasses, bowls, silverware, toaster, microwave, blender, coffee maker, coffee supplies, sponge, detergent, dish towel) and the bathroom. There was a spiral staircase that went to a loft that had two twin beds. Our view from the balcony was the pool and the ocean. It was beautiful. And as for being over the bar and entertainment area...it ended at 9pm every day so it was never an issue. The employees were super nice. The resort is clean. The entertainment is very good. In fact, almost every day they had free alcohol for two hours (wine and cheese on one evening, rum punch another day, and open bar another evening). They have happy hour at the bar as well with decent drink deals. At the Veranda Market on premises, you can get alcohol and snacks and other food. Buying your booze here is definitely a better value that ordering drinks at the bar. There is a laundry for guests, and we used it. I know they have shuttles to various beaches, such as Grand Case, but we never utilized this as we had a car.
An easy 10-minute drive away is Great Bay Beach. Park at Bobby's Marina for $2 an hour. This beach is beautiful and large. It is lined with shops and restaurants. The parallel street behind that has more shops, especially jewelry, alcohol and tobacco. The parallel street behind that is where the locals shop. DO NOT GO TO THIS BEACH ON CRUISE ARRIVAL DAYS (generally Monday -Thursday, but you can check the schedule online). The people that own the restaurants will try to get you to rent their chairs and umbrellas. They are not pushy. They usually have two rates: one with an alcohol package and one without. Honestly, I don't know why they bother to open any restaurants and shops on non-cruise ship days. There were literally less than 30 people on the beach the entire day. We actually went back to this beach two days later because we enjoyed it so much. Again, less than 30 people on the entire beach. The water is turquois and gentle, and we found a ton of beautiful shells. Renting chairs and umbrellas is highly suggested.
An easy 8-minute drive away from OBBR is Parrot Ville Parrot Sanctuary. This place is a must do, whether you are a kid or an adult. The birds are gorgeous. They eat out of a cup on a stick that you hold, and the birds also land on your shoulders and your head as well.
Toppers Rhum Distillery was a 30-minute drive, but it was a great tour. You need advance reservations. Do not eat in the restaurant there. The food is not good, and the service is worse. I think we waited an hour for our food and there was nobody else in the restaurant. We visited Maho beach that day since we were over on that end of the island anyway. You go there because it's a tourist trap, but it's not really a nice beach. I couldn't wait to leave.
Besides eating at Great Bay Beach at The Blue Bitch (food was so-so) and Big Wood (great jerk chicken and curry chicken) and The Greenhouse (very good), the other off-premises restaurant close to the resort that we really enjoyed was l'Oasis, which was just over the French border. Amazing. We also ordered pizza in from Mama's. It was pretty good. We are from southern New York, so really no pizza is actually good outside of the tri-state area.
We booked through JetBlue vacations, so I believe that we were flagged so that we weren't bothered about a timeshare pitch. If you book on your own, I don't know how that works. If you are looking for a low-key resort where you can really relax and never fight for a lounge chair by the beautiful infinity pool, this is your resort. If there was ONE complaint, it would be about the water temperature. There are two: hot and scalding. Nobody wants that after getting burned in the sun.
CW