Oasis Playa Hotel

My girfriend and I stayed at the Oasis Playa from October 9th to the 16th and were generally disappointed. This was our third year in a row going to Cancun having spent the previous two at Cancun Palace and Royal Solaris. Given that Expedia (who we booked our trip through) and other sites classified Oasis Playa in the same four star category as Royal Solaris and Cancun Palace we felt like we were getting a deal as it was $300 cheaper, however, please take my advice and spend the extra money on the one of other two or another choice. Specically, the staff at the Oasis Playa is indifferent at best and rude for the most part. Even though this is an "all inclusive" they openly expect tips (which is no problem for great service even at an AI), however, save your money as they have no bearing on the quality of service you will recieve. For example, upon our arrival I gave the bellman a tip to handle our bags and he subsequently left them sitting alone in front of the hotel for forty five minutes before I went and got them myself. The Front Desk is equally as bad. In one instance, two front desk people stood and watched us as we waited for a third person to finish up his personal call before he helped us. Also, be advsied that they will hit you with a $4.40 per day charge for your safe key which is not charged at other resorts. The food is O.K. but none of the restaurants are air conditioned. The buffet is especially hot at lunch time. Of the two sit down restaurants I would recomend Sarape Grill over La Galera, however, the food there is not much better than the buffet. Additionally, they put a lot of pressure on you to buy the wine, steak, or lobster which is not so relaxing. Also, once they realize you are sticking to your all inclusive guns the service really goes down hill. As far as food, the best experience is that snack bar on the beach as even the Oasis Playa can't ruin a Burger, Fries, and a Beer while overlooking the ocean. The room was a nightmare. We were on the third floor and the walls and ceilings are paper thin, amplyfying every footstep and voice day or night. Seriously, we both felt like we were in a sleep deprivation experiment. Niether our sink nor our shower drained properly and our toilet cloged up. Also, if you are hoping for hot water, take a shower in the morning because after 3:00 the hot water and water pressure go bye-bye... Also, our room was often not made up until three or four o'clock in the afternoon and the bed was beyond rock hard. Enough said about the room. About the only saving grace of this whole property is the pool which does over great ocean views to save the day along with a few cocktails. If you like tropical drinks I would recomend the cabana or the oasis special. Of note is that the very bottom tier of the pool is drained and doesn't look like it is going to function anytime soon. To sum things up, the Oasis Playa just wears you down...The first couple of days you let things slide because of the pool, the views, and the cocktails but eventually, over a weeklong stay, the little, and not so little things get to you and you can't wait to leave. I take some of the blame myself for blindly looking for the best deals and ignoring the bad reviews. Please do not do the same. We will be in Cancun next year...Just not at the Oasis Playa.

The hotel itself is nice and the service was ok. But the beds are rock hard and the hotel stinks. We got food poisoning from one of the hotel restaurants. And it was a little far from the main cancun strip. I wouldn't stay at this hotel if I ever went back to Cancun.

My mom, sister and I just got back yesterday (Oct. 12, 2002) We arrived on the 5th. It is beautiful there. We went with FunJet vacations and they were great. The lobby is beautiful. Our room was okay. There is a closet and two drawers for your clothes. There is a large vanity area. Our shower broke the first night we were there. Within an hour someone was there to "repair" it. It still wasn't right but we were able to shower. The food was not very good. In the mornings you could always get a bowl of cereal, omelettes, and fresh fruit. The eggs that were premaid along with the rest of the stuff was not very good. We ate lunch at Coco Beach Bar and Grill, the hamburgers tasted like those hamburgers you get frozen in the box. Not very good, the hot dogs were not any better. They did have nachos and you could put your own nacho cheese on them and they were good. We ate at the Sarape Grill and I had the grilled chicken which was included and it was delicious. My mom and sister had the ribeye steaks which were $13 each, the portions were generous and it was delicious. The Galera restaraunt, don't waste your time. The food was awful, we all had the chicken as it was so good at the Sarape. It had the skin on it, it was fatty and had a lot of gristle with this gravy stuff on it, yuck! The buffet had fresh steamed vegetables on it every night and thank goodness or we would have starved. The entertainment staff, in particular, Alto, Raul, J.J., and Cindy were awesome. They made sure we were laughing and having a great time. They know how to shake what their mama gave them. They were fabulous. You have to get up early to get a lounge chair with a pad on it and an umbrella. We were there every morning by 7. We learned that you could always get a pad by renting one for $2 for the week. Not bad, the umbrella, you just had to ask. Wash cloths were not standard, every day we had to call housekeeping to bring them to us, within 15 minutes we had them. The pools are spectacula m up bar which is about 5ft. deep. It is clean and just wonderful. If you're not a picky eater and you like to lounge by the pool all day this is a great place. You wont' get all the comforts of home, the a/c was not cooling at all but the tropical breezes are great. Get a room with a terrace and ocean view and you will enjoy your room much better. The free drinks are free for a reason. I bet I had 15-20 drinks a day and never even got a buzz. I started out drinking banana daquiris which are delicious but they only bring out about 8 bananas and each daquiri uses a 1/2 a banana and when they're gone they stop making banana daquiri's. The only beer they have is Corona and there is no brand name liquor. So no Cuervo, no Jack Daniels, no Captain Morgan's, etc. Overall we had a great time. The Cancun sun is awesome, make sure you use at least 30 sunscreen if you don't have a good base tan because you will fry if you don't. It is paradise. If you want a middle of the run hotel, with just enough food to sustain you and you really just want to play by the pool than this is a great hotel. I will try somewhere different next time but I would definitely go back to Cancun. Bring extra spending money as all inclusive is not all inclusive. They have tours and things they do through the hotel. They had a bar hoping night where they went to about 5 bars, that costs $50 per person, if you want to swim with the dolphins that's $100 for 10 minutes per person. We had lunch at Senor Frogs, that was $56 for three people. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe that was $35 for 3. The bus is 6pesos each time you ride the bus, that's about $.60 in American money. The taxi's are about $20 in us dollars. I would give this hotel a C-.

We vacationed at the Oasis Playa from Sept. 26 to Oct 1 and had a realy good time. The hotel was beautiful and very clean. Our room was quite spacious and clean. Although, it did have a characteristic cleaner/mildew type smell but we quickly became acustomed to it. The air conditioning in our room worked great. There isn't any air conditioning in the lobby but it really didn't bother us. The staff weren't overly friendly or accomodating but were very polite and most spoke english pretty well. My husband is a picky eater and we were afraid of the food choices we would have with the all inclusive. Surprisingly, we found the food good, with varied selection, and my husband was quite satisfied. The entertainment at the hotel was limited, but the few shows the staff put on were fun and they really tried to make it entertaining. The drinks were good enough for us - but then again we're not connoseurs. The pool was great, with a beautiful view of the ocean and although we got there later than most, we always got a chair. We met a lot of nice people and everyone we talked to were quite pleased with the hotel. Since we were there mostly to relax, we didn't do many things. We took a tour to Chichen Itza and highly recommend it. It was $70 pp and included transportation in a very comfortable tour bus, lunch at the Mayan Hotel and a swim in a great undergroud cavern. We also went to Coco Bongos - what an amazing place. Even though we were a bit older than most patrons, we had a fantasic time just watching all the entertainers and FUN going on!Like everything else, fun is what you make it. If you're looking for a nice, comfortable, reasonably priced hotel, the Oasis Playa is OK in our book. We would definitely return.

Where do I begin? Choosing the Oasis Playa in Cancun was not a good choice. From the minute we arrived we were treated poorly by the non english speaking front desk attendents. FINALY when we got our room, it smelled so bad. On our voucher it explained that we had requested and paid for a "honeymoon suite" with an ocean view. We ended up with a ground floor with a lovely view of a tree. Asking for a new room, we were told we would be put on a waiting list which we are still on. If you like to go to bed at 10 o'clock this is your place. They say there is nightly entertainment, what a joke. The resort is like a ghost town by 10 p.m. Did I mention the swimming pool closes at 6 p.m. You eat the same food every day, eg. pork becomes pork stew then pork soup and then who knows what! It was horrible. If you want to have fun bring lots of $$$ becuase you have to leave the resort to dance and drink at night, but do not RENT, yes I said rent a room safe because the cleaning staff have keys to it and will rob you. I will say there place is nice, the lobby, pool, and beach but that wasn't good enough for what we paid. Everyone we talked to at the resort felt the same and could not wait until they were home. Please trust us, Do not go to this resort, you may feel like us when you get back. Please feel free to e-mail for more horror stories.

My friends and I stayed at the Oasis Playa from Aug. 18-25, 2002, and we had THE BEST vacation! Cancun is definitely worth going to at least once in your life. The nightlife is fantastic and the beaches are breath taking. If you do find yourself in Cancun, it would be well worth your money to stay at the Oasis Playa. It really is a fabulous resort, like all (or most of) these reviews are saying. It's beautiful, especially when you first walk in. The rooms are spacious and very clean. We stayed on the main floor so it was really convienient. But we had friends who stayed a few floors up and the elevators were kind of slow. But then again, we really weren't up in our rooms that much anyway. The staff were all great. From the front desk, to the wait staff (Manuel in La Gallera was such a sweetheart), to Cristina - the wonderful lady who did our braids in the hotel's salon. And then of course, there was the entertainment staff. Like many of these reviews, I have to agree that all of those guys (Angel, Aldo, JJ, Paco and Sebastian) kept us quite entertained. They could jerk you around a little bit, but all in all, they were funny as hell. Their morning dance routines were especially entertaining, and they did a really good job of trying to get as many guests as possible involved in all of their activities, day or night. As for the activities, there are lots of things going on throughout the day, like water aerobics, table tennis, beach volleyball, etc. But in truth, my friends and I mostly hung out in the gorgeous pools (at the swim up bar) and on the beach. As for nightly activities, there were shows almost each night in the lobby, but at around 10-11pm, things around the hotel got pretty quiet. That's when we would all leave to go to the night clubs. The hotel co-ordinates with its sister hotels (Oasis Cancun, and Grand Oasis) to go to certain clubs on certain nights, which makes it that much more fun. And for 25 dollars (US) you get VIP entrance, and open bar. But here's my tip: That 25 dollars can get pretty pricey every night (especially if you go out every single night like we did). And once you get to the club, there are so many people lining up for drinks, you usually can only score 1 or 2 drinks for the night. So what my friends and I decided to do on most nights was just go on our own. You only have to pay 6 pesos for the bus (the bus system is really easy on the hotel strip), and then about 12 dollars cover charge for the bar. We never drank at the bars because the drinks are really expensive, but we just drank before-hand at the hotel for free. So we had the same awesome time as everyone else but for about half the price. The bars we went to were: Senor Frogs, Daddy-O's, Daddy Rocks, Coco Bongo (the best), and La Boom. And of course we went to the Foam Party at Grand Oasis (which you cannot miss). The food at the hotel was alright. It wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad. The buffet was great for breakfast, but we tried to eat at the restaurants for dinner. All in all, the resort was amazing. It isn't a really huge place so you can meet a lot of really cool people. Nothing is better than sitting in the lobby, drinking your free drinks and constantly running into people you've met throughout the day. If you have the chance to go to Oasis Playa in Cancun, then do it!

First, after enjoying a couple of cruises to the Caribbean (Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Lines), we were expecting something comparable of this, four- or five-star ranked all-inclusive resort. This is NOT a four- or five-star hotel—it is AT MOST THREE STARS. Here is why: FOOD & BEVERAGES: Breakfast and lunch buffets were OK; just OK; cannot review dinner buffet, but other guests told us that it was recycled lunch food. Went to dinner to the two restaurants and the food was: Galera: Awful! Worst lasagna and cannelloni we’ve ever eaten; my husband compared it to Army quality; a piece of bread and bland from-a-jar tomato sauce was actually called an appetizer. Sarape Grill: we were upbeat when the mixed salad was actually of excellent quality, but we ordered the “mixed parrillada”, which consisted of a chorizo, breast of chicken, and a piece of beef. The last two were cooked to a dry, crisp state, even though we asked for “juicy”. The meats looked liked they were pre-grilled the previous night. Beverages were nothing special, lacking imagination. Beer drinkers got Corona and wine drinkers got barely passable wine by the glass. Bottles of wine were extra and very expensive. There was no good quality brand liquor included. SERVICE: People were very attentive, but we tipped everybody (waiters, maids, bartenders, and porters). Cleanliness was not the best in both room and common areas. HOTEL FACILITIES: Elevators: On our side of the hotel, one was completely out of service and the other worked sparingly. We were lucky that the service elevator was working (our room was on the 8th floor). Air conditioning: In the room, it was great, but all common areas, including the grand lobby, lacked AC (exception: the main lobby bathrooms in the lobby). In the buffet area, the AC was barely working, and everybody was sweating—especially the people sitting by the food area. Beach area: It was a chore every morning to wake up early (before 6:30 a.m.) to get one of the few available fixed straw umbrellas. The hotel beach was large enough to support more than double the number of umbrellas, without interfering with sunbathers. For some unknown reason, they did not take advantage of this and inconvenienced their guests. Beach chairs were enough, but the hotel was at less than 70 percent capacity. Their version of “Quick Checkout” was cumbersome. We paid our bill with a credit card the night before, but still were required the next morning to show up to return the key and the all-inclusive bracelets, check our bill, and obtain a security pass . . . In addition, a $19.60 Mexican pesos charge appeared on our bill. It was called “Oasis Fund”. When we inquired about it, we were told that it was an optional charity fund contribution for the children of Cancun. No explanation and/or brochure was given to us at any time before checkout. SUMMARY: If you are content with free beer and mediocre buffet food, and you don’t mind not having AC in the restaurants/bars and lobby, then this may be the place for you. However, if you expect four-star service and quality, you will be greatly disappointed, and you will decide on two things: go to dinner to one of the four hundred Cancun restaurants, as we did, and next time (we liked Cancun, so we want to go back), choose a better option.

Oh my where do I start! We stayed here for 16 days. I also read the bad reviews and did not know what to expect when I arrived. My husband and myself have been to Cancun before, but never have we had such a great trip. The staff and Hotel was great. There is no air conditioning in the lobby or the restruants but who cares! You are in Cancun!!The pool is the best. You can lay on the wall of the pool and tan, while the water gently goes around you. The Ocean view is GREAT. The rooms are big and everything is very clean. The food is realy good. Try all 3 resturants. The night shows are good, the pool staff is fun( say hi to Angel ) and the Aquaworld staff is the best! Really,we use them a lot and these guys are the best.(say hi to Roberto) We are planning a trip in 6 mounths and will be staying at the Oasis Playa again. We are buying a house in Cancun and will use the Hotel for special occations.

My 15 year old daughter and I returned from here three weeks ago, a fantastic holiday from start to finish.I don't know which hotel those with the poor reviews stayed at..but it wasn't this one. All the staff where very friendly and all understood english very well. The food was delicious and varied (with a fussy teenager this is a must!) the buffet is air conditioned and I never once saw flies on the food there and we ate there most days for one meal or another. Rooms, certainly ours and other people we spoke to where faultless. The staff where more than polite and friendly the entertainment round the pool and the at the theme nights was excellent. The hotel during our stay had alot of guests from the USA and Canada and having lived there for a good number of years I can tell you they won't and don't put up with any grot!! We would definately stay here again...and we never return to the same hotel twice, but, in this case we will be making an exception

My family and I came back yesterday from Oasis Playa Cancun. My main reason going to Cancun was for the beach. I thought my overall stay there was 50/50. I will start out with the good. The beach is very beautiful. The all inclusive drinks at the bar were good. My 2 children througt it was cool to order virgin drinks at the bar. Our room was beautiful and clean. The food was ok nothing to brag about. Next I will tell you about the ugly. My older son was was injured there. He was walking beside the pool and his foot fell into a deep pool filter hole that was not covered. The next day he was swiming in the pool and swam nose first into the step. Please tell your kids to be very carefull. The evening prior to check out I received my bill for the hotel under my door. I did not charge anything extra on my hotel bill, but there was a 20 some dollar charge. When I checked out I told them to remove the charge. They did, but he asked if I wanted to pay the charge because that charge is for the disabled and homeless people of their country. Ok next is the bad. The toilet in my room was leaking water. Every evening I had to pack towels around the toilet. I had the construction site view. I ate one bite of a sandwich at 3:00am it was nasty. The coffee at 3:00am was served in plastic cups. The pool closed every evening early. No nite swiming. The food it very plain. My room had the smell of raid ant spray. The AC dripped from the ceiling. My room felt like Alaska. Had to pay $3.00/Hr for boogie board use. The staff was friendly. I hope the service people get a day off, they look overworked. Overall I will not go back to oasis playa again.