LC Travels

The ocean from the infinity pool

During the week of July 14, 2008 we stayed at the Grand Oasis Playa in Cancun Mexico. Below is a summary of our stay, opinions on the hotel, staff, etc…

This is our 4th trip to Cancun and our 6th to the region (we’ve stayed in Cozumel twice, Cancun itself 4x). We’ve previously stayed in the Grand Oasis Cancun, the Hyatt and the Grand Royal Solaris. We chose the Grand Oasis Playa for one reason this trip – price. We had just come back from Hawaii several months prior to this trip and were just looking for a cheap, short summer getaway. Our travel agent offered us a deal that we simply could not pass up, providing us with our least expensive trip to Cancun we’ve made in 10 years (and one of the most enjoyable!).

Let me start out by saying that this was the best “bang for the buck” we’ve ever had. For what we paid, the room was fantastic, the food was good and the staff as friendly as we’ve ever had.

The Hotel:

As you arrive at the Grand Oasis Playa, you’re greeted by a somewhat dated entrance and building appearance along with some nice, but simplistic gardens. Don’t get me wrong, it is very nice, but you don’t get the feeling you’re walking into the Ritz (and you’re not paying for it either!). You do however feel like you are walking into a nice, somewhat upscale resort.

The lobby area is large and all glass looking out onto the ocean. Again the architecture and furnishings feel somewhat dated, but it is clean, expansive and inviting. There is no air conditioning in this part of the building so it is a bit on the warm side, but this is Cancun in July after all

The common areas (hallways, bars, buffet, etc..) are all clean and upscale. No worn, moldy carpets but beautiful marble, tiles, etc…

We have previously stayed in one of the sister resorts, the Grand Oasis Cancun. The Oasis Playa is a very different hotel from the Oasis Cancun and appeals to a different crowd. The Playa is adults only (23 and up), the Cancun is open to all ages. The Oasis Cancun is MUCH larger but also MUCH more crowded. We went to visit the Oasis Cancun one day on this trip and every square inch of that resort was packed with people (your all inclusive package allows you to enjoy the facilities and restaurants at all the Oasis hotels – there are 5 in Cancun). The Oasis Playa never felt crowded (outside of the poolbar during prime hours).

Photos: Hotel entrance, Hotel view from beach, Hotel from pool deck, Hotel courtyard

The Pools:

There are really 3 pool areas to explore. There is an infinity pool behind the hotel in the main outdoor area. This pool is also host to the pool bar and most of the activies. This is where they play volleyball, water aerobics, etc.. The water is never more than chest deep. This pool looks out over the white sandy beach and the ocean, just beautiful.

One level above that pool is a 2nd, somewhat quieter pool also overlooking the ocean. The water here is never more than waist deep and there are several waterways that carry water over small waterfalls down into the lower pool noted above.

On the side of the building is the deepest and by far the quietest pool area at the resort. It is an infinity pool looking out over the “lagoon” (this is the ’street side’ of the hotel). This pool reaches a depth of probably 8 feet and is a more traditional style pool (square in shape, shallow at one end deep at the other). There are hanging beds here and plenty of chairs. Great place to either swim short laps or get some peace and quiet.

The water in all of the pools was VERY warm, like bath water. The pools were cleaned every night and were very well maintained. We were extremely happy with the pool areas of the hotel and loved the variety they afforded.

Photos: Upper pool deck, Main pool, Lagoon Infinity Pool, Main infinity pool, Pool fountains

The Beach:

Cancun has suffered 2 hurricanes in the past decade (ish). As a result the beach is not as wide as it once was (A traveler from Britain commented to us that he was somewhat disappointed with the size of the beach). However, the beach is still gorgeous – beautiful white sands and turquoise water. We continue to visit Cancun for this very reason. The Oasis Playa’s beach has numerous palapas for shade, as well as several hanging air beds that you can stretch out on in the shade (although get there really early if you expect to get one of those). The water is fairly calm and shallow and a blast to play in. There are some rocks on one end of the beach, but they are easy to avoid and there is plenty of room to enjoy yourself without worrying about these.

Photos: Palapas on Beach, Beach and Strip View, Beach

The Room:

We were upgraded at no cost to a Jr. Suite simply for asking. The room was fantastic. The Jr. Suites have either their own private patio and small yard, or on the upper levels you have a large private patio. All of the Jr. Suites have their own private hot tubs as well (actually they are more like an outdoor bathtub, as they do not have jets and you fill them up just like you do a bathtub when you’re ready to use them, then drain when you are done).

The room had a king size bed with pillow-top, one of the most comfortable beds I’ve slept in at a hotel in recent history. There is no carpet, all tile and marble. The Jr. Suites have a small fridge that is stocked daily with water, beer and pepsi products (all part of the all-inclusive package). They also have coffee makers (although you have to call room service to get the coffee – strange), a 27″ flat screen TV, good sized closet and upscale bathrooms done in all marble.

Our room was cleaned daily about 1:00, and we were pleased with the service. The only complaint we had in this area was that the staff left 2 bags of garbage outside in the hallway and it remained there for 2 days. Someone had also dropped a brownie on the stairs and it never did get cleaned up during our stay.

Wireless internet access is available, but I had to go out on my patio or up to the lobby to get a signal (the wifi just doesn’t work through those thick, cement walls and there is no network jack in the room if you were willing to plug-in). To get wireless access you have to purchase a pass card from the front desk. $3 for 15 minutes, $5 for an hour or $15 for a 24 hour pass. They also have 4 or 5 computers off the main lobby that you can use if you don’t have a laptop.

The air conditioning is also worth mentioning. Although our air was set to the lowest possible temperature and ran 24/7 with the fan on high, our room was never “cool”. It was certainly more inviting than the 95 degree weather outside, but we found it just a little on the warm side. Not bad, just a tad warm. We heard this same complaint from many other travelers in Jr. Suites, but it seems most people with ‘normal’ rooms found the air conditioning to be just fine.

Photos: Jr. Suite, bathroom, Jr. Suite 2nd view

The Food:

Again for the price, the meal options exceeded our expectations. The buffet is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We found the variety of options to be excellent and the quality of the food to be very good (we’ve had better, but we’ve also had much worse). We ate most of our meals here and seldom ate the same thing twice. Fresh fruit every day (with exotic cactus and other fruits we don’t normally get here in the states), a variety of breads, pasta and omlette stations, great salad bar, and frequently changing entrees. My wife loved the seafood options (she really enjoyed the Tuna Chille Rellenos), and I had plenty to eat as well (as I don’t eat seafood).

There are 2 upscale restaurants that you must make reservations for a full day in advance (they are small and book quickly). A Brazilian rodizio grill as well as a gourmet Mexican restaurant. We found the rodizio grill experience to be excellent with a large variety of meats and an excellent side dishes. House wines are included, but you can pay more for better wines if you are so inclined. We never did find the time to try the Mexican restaurant. It was low on our priorities as I don’t eat seafood and we were told the menu consists mostly of seafood entrees.

There is another restaurant that does not require reservations and is open for Lunch and Dinner. They serve wood fired pizzas and deli sandwiches/salads. The selection in minimal, but their pizzas were excellent and we went back several times.

A snack bar sits just outside the secondary pool in the main pool area. They serve hamburgers and sandwiches. We never did eat here as we were always getting pizzas or at the buffet.

They also have a Sushi bar that is open late morning through early evening.

There are enough bars to serve your beverage/liquor needs, with 2 bars off the main level, a pool bar, a pool side bar and a beach bar.

The Staff:

The staff was as friendly a staff as we’ve ever dealt with in Mexico. We were given a free upgrade to a Jr. Suite simply for asking and every question or request was greeted with friendly enthusiasm. We got to know our servers at the buffet somewhat as they tried to teach us a few words in Spanish. The bartenders were all friendly and happy to deal with special requests. We’ve read other reviews that berated the staff, but we found them to be patient, friendly and accommodating.

Items of Note:

During our research prior to booking this trip, we found the reviews to be mixed. There were so many bad reviews that we almost didn’t book it. I’m happy to say we’re glad we ignored the nay sayers.

Many people complained about items we just found plain silly. For example, several reviewers complained that there “were too many steps” in the hotel. Give me a break, every hotel in the hotel zone in Cancun is built up off the street and as a result there are many steps in every resort we’ve stayed in. To get to the different pool levels, bars, restaurants, beach, etc.. you have to climb a few steps. Trust me, you’ll be glad you have somewhere to work off the calories from the alcohol and the buffet! If you are handicaped, this would not be an ideal resort, but otherwise the steps just aren’t a concern.

Other reviewers complained about the food. Many said the buffet was the same thing every day with no variety. The buffet was so large that I couldn’t possibly try everything in it in one sitting (or 2 or 3 for that matter). So even if the buffet didn’t change every day and for every meal, I could still eat 3 or 4 meals without ever eating the same meal. The buffet did change somewhat every day however, and in 6 days there I never once had the same meal twice.

Others complained about the staff. I guess if you’re rude, and you don’t tip, then maybe the staff might not be what you’re looking for. But we treated them with respect and we were polite, as a result we received that behavior in kind 10 fold.

Lastly we read several reviews complaining that the pool water was too cold (and these reviewers went in summer). Cold? I quite honestly have never been in warmer pool water, it was truly like being in a bath. Just cool enough to keep you comfortable, but never cold and never a shock to get into.

Oasis Playa Front Entrance

Conclusion:

The Grand Oasis Playa was worth twice what we paid. We enjoyed the staff, we loved our room, we loved the beach and the pool area, we ate incredibly well and we drank way too much Don’t listen to the reviewers who are down on the Oasis Playa. If you are looking for a 5 star Ritz Carlton resort, well this isn’t it. If on the other hand you’re looking for a good value in the Hotel Zone in Cancun, you can’t go wrong with the Oasis Playa at twice the price! We loved our week there and if we were to get a similar deal again, we would not hesitate to go back.

Footnote:

For those of you who book soley through the online sites (orbitz, travelocity, etc..) you might consider looking into travel agencies again, specifically www.all-travel.com.  Let me start out by saying I am in NO way affiliated with them, but if it weren’t for our rep (Trish) at all-travel, we would have never gone on this vacation (or our previous Hawaii vacation). We had given up on travel agencies some years back with the advent of the major online travel sites (that and most of our local travel agencies had gone out of business), but I’m thrilled to have found Trish and the personal service/great pricing she’s been able to give us.