Oh! Cancun The Urban Oasis

Stayed at this resort through a quick cheap Sunwing package. FIRST thing to note is that they will charge you 900pesos or $50USD as soon as you check in for a tourism and environmental tax. I did look closer into the Sunwing fine print and found that disclosure but it was not very forthcoming. So make sure you have that ready- also maybe this is normal but this is the first time I have stayed in a resort in Mexico so I can’t say. I have no problem paying the tax to maintain the beautiful environment we are visiting but I was caught off guard. SECOND, this resort is at the perfect location for the type of trip we were interested in. It is within walking distance of a Chedraui supermarket (good for groceries, toiletries, apparel, pharmacy etc), a 24hr Pharmacy, Money exchanges, OXXO convenience store, bus stations, 20min walk to Walmart Express (I recommend Chedraui instead), a McDonald’s, the Plaza of Americas (shopping mall and food court), Mercado 28 (skip if you ask me) AND I highly recommend visiting the Parque de les Palapas for cheap street food and evening atmosphere! Ride the R1 or R2 bus for 12pesos a person for 10-15minutes to get to the hotel strip and beaches.

So location is 10/10 actually 100/10. It is THE perfect place to visit cancun. I highly recommend the breakfast package. We found it fresh, tasty and plentiful. You can’t start your day any better than with a bright breakfast like this. It does get busy for bouts and I often had to wait to be seated 5-10minutes but never longer.

The staff was great no issues there. Everyone was pleasant and accommodating. That being said DO NOT purchase excursions through the concierge. They are extremely overpriced. She quoted us 140USD PER PERSON for a Chichen Itza (cenote, Valladolid) bus tour- we the exact same tour from J&C tours up the street for $50 USD each.

Air conditioning worked great in the room- so did the elevators and key cards and Minifridge

SO NOW THE NEGATIVES: Our room had bugs. We noticed on the first night a couple little roach like bugs. We didn’t sweat it as they seemed harmless and it is very difficult to keep spaces bug free in hot humid countries. Then we started to see them more. They seemed to be coming from the credenza under the TV. If you have been quiet for a while with little light and get up you can see them all skitter away. They were ALL over the cups spoons coffee machine- DO NOT USE! We slept with the lights on and one eye open for most of the trip. Thankfully we never saw one on the bed or I would have been out of there. In my opinion there is a infestation in that drawer thing- this wasn’t a negligible amount of bugs. I cannot speak if any of the other rooms had this issue or if it was a standalone problem.

I also wasn’t impressed with the laundering and sheets and pillows. Many times I saw stains and marks on the “freshly changed” sheets that I had to will myself to ignore because we are in paradise. Housekeeping is also stingy with towels and water. If they see any water in your room while they make the change they will NOT leave you your 3 water bottle ration. Do not be afraid to ask reception for water if they skip your room.

Pool area was nothing to write home about. I went in it literally once- the water was quite cold, and the chairs and solo tubs were pretty dirty. It was much more worth it to pack a backpack and catch the bus to the beach.

All in all I really want to love this hotel. The location location location, amenities, staff and breakfast are everything I wanted and more in my Cancún adventure. But I remember how uncomfortable I felt trying to sleep with the lights on in questionable sheets getting up to check the bed for bugs every couple of hours and it makes me question if I would ever go back. EDIT: Just saw another review from shortly after my stay citing roach infestation