Oh! Cancun The Urban Oasis — Hotel in Cancún

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...

From the photos and from the facade, the hotel looks modern and new; when your'e at the lobby and the pool, it looks very nice. However, once you enter the rooms, the rooms are very dated and not well maintained. My room door does not close properly, stains and cracks in room and bathroom. My shower was faulty, ac is old and loud and towels supplied are shredded at the edges. The first room given to me, the ac was not working and as it was facing the main street, it was very noisy even late at night as the windows are not double glazed. I then changed rooms and requested for a back facing room. It was quieter but you can still hear the music they blast at the pool. Fortunately it stops at around 10pm. I was trapped in their lift one morning and reported to them. But they only have 1 lift, so that whole day while they were servicing the lift, I had to climb 7 flights of stairs up and down twice. Fortunately I do not have my luggage with me or on a wheelchair, else I would not be able to get to my room the whole day. When I checked in to the hotel, I asked the receptionist if I could leave my suitcase with them for 2 days as I will be back to stay at the hotel again after 2 days in Merida. The staff told me they do not have place to store suitcases!! I have travelled extensively all over the world (90 countries and many more hotels) and every hotel is fine with that request, some are even fine with me keeping my suitcase for a week and I'm not even returning to stay at the hotel! Fortunately, on the day of my check out a nicer receptionist was around and she said no problem. That is why I said the service is inconsistent at the start of my review. I contacted the hotel for airport transfers and tours and they recommended Viajes Caribe Maya, an agency affiliated to the hotel. I booked a tour to Chichen Itza with them and they texted me a day before to ask if I wanted to pay more to upgrade my tour. She promised a smaller group of 10-20 people and went on to say though their prices are higher than other tour companies, they provide a better service. Turns out it is all a scam to make you pay more. They are just re-sellers of the normal cheap tours and I wound up on a bus of 45 people and requiring me to pay for more extras on the tour even though it was supposed to be included. I contacted the staff and he was totally unempathetic and unapologetic, I requested for a refund of the upgrade and he refused. (I have kept the text messages as evidence). And for the tour the next day, the guide did not even come into the hotel lobby to look for me and left without picking me up. For my first tour, the guide came into the hotel lobby to look for me, and they have my mexico telephone number to call me if they couldn't find me but they didn/t even bother to call or check with the hotel receptionist. So never deal with the travel agent the hotel is affiliated to. Total scammers. And no apologies whatsoever. I spoke to the manager of the tour agency and he was rude and didnt want to even...

This hotel is an absolute shambles. First thing to note is the manager (David Cruz) refused to refund our ‘Tourist Tax’ payment of approx $1260MXN ($140MXN per night) for the 9 nights we didn’t stay, as we had to check out early due to the endless issues at this absolute dive of a hotel. He is an untrustworthy thief and abuses his power over foreign travellers.

If you read the other reviews (wish we had!) not the first time he’s done this by the looks of it!

The first room we were provided with had a broken door lock and was therefore not safe, so they offered us a second room.

The second room was directly above an incredibly noisy fan outlet, upon investigating the noise I opened the window to see where it came from and the air pressure from the unit below was so much the curtains hit the ceiling! I cannot believe ANYONE has ever managed to actually sleep in that room.

The third room was at least quiet, but was dirty, had broken electrical outlets and a shower that didn’t have temperature control, and the morning after failed completely and wouldn’t turn on.

We reported these issues to reception who said they would fix it (Thursday evening). They said we could pay to upgrade to the sister hotel if we were not happy with this one (we didn’t want an upgrade, just the basic facilities - such as a locking secure door, some peace and quiet and a working shower - all too much to ask for here!)

Friday, nothing done. Complained to our holiday provider who said they would get the hotel to confirm a refund for the unused nights and we could be on our way. Chased them all day to confirm the refund and eventually in the evening they said reservations were now shut, and they couldnt confirm if they could refund us for the unused nights but would in the morning tomorrow (Saturday).

Chased them Saturday, no response at all until Midday, where they said reservations were closed for the weekend and nothing could be done.

After much back and forth and deciding to not let these untrustworthy thieving criminals ruin our holiday, we took our chances and checked out to find alternative accommodation at our own expense. Manager refused to refund the cash "tourist tax" paid, gave no good reason and told us we were not allowed to record the conversation to pass back to Thomas Cook our holiday provider - shady or what?!

Outside of these issues, the rooms are outdated, in poor states of repair and very very dirty. Huge gaps under doors, not safe or secure. This place would be shut down if it was in the UK, and the manager would be in prison!

Please read the other reviews with similar experiences. I have never had to leave a bad review before like this for anywhere, but truly need to warn anyone off staying in this horrendous establishment with it’s corrupt manager.

Building works going on here too... photographed outside for when they enivitably try to deny it here - if you enjoy the sound of loud drilling whilst on holiday, book now to ensure maximum time...