Cancun Omni Vacation – July 8-16, 2006 I would like to thank Steve and all of the great people associated with CancunCare for this great web site and a big Thanks Y’all for everyone who submitted the fantastic trip reports which have definitely helped make the time fly prior to the trip. My wife and I have a 3 year old daughter who had an exciting week at the grandparents while we enjoyed the beaches. There is no better feeling than leaving your child with family while you are away. Ok, on with the trip report. Julie (wife) and I have been planning this vacation for a few months and decided on 8 whole days at the Cancun Omni since we got a good rate and the positive recent trip reports. Flight – We flew out of Cleveland on USA3000, which was our first charter flight. We had a chaotic start to the trip when the check-in person told us that Julie’s birth certificate had an expired notary seal. I argued with her for a while about how crazy that sounded since her birth certificate was nearly 35 years old and we had used this same one with Continental on the way to Cancun a few years ago. We spent about 20 minutes running around the airport looking for a notary to re-stamp her birth certificate and got lucky at the Continental counter. I hope no one else has this problem with USA3000. I guess it becomes a moot point after December 31. Our arrival was about ½ hour late because the plane had to turn around since the cargo door had not been properly shut. :shock: The food was ok with a big egg-sausage-cheese biscuit and fruit for breakfast. The trip home was uneventful without any delays or problems. All in all I would say USA3000 met my expectations. Airport pick-up – After getting our three bags, we got lucky again and got the green light and dashed toward sunlight. One of Brant’s associates had a sign with our name on it and we got a fast air-conditioned ride to the Omni. I know it cost a couple more dollars that the buses but you can’t beat the service. The ride back to the airport was uneventful and we arrived at the airport after only a couple minutes. I fully recommend Brant’s airport service and the 2x1 entertainment card, but more on the card later. Hotel - The Omni looks fantastic!!! The front of the hotel has been renovated with more plants and lights to showcase this great hotel. The front desk staff took great care of us the whole trip. I accidentally forgot the free upgrade and 50%-off weekend coupons on the refrigerator at home that I got from the Omni select guest department and the front desk still gave me the ocean-front upgrade and accepted a faxed copy of the discount coupon. A big “Thank You” definitely goes out to the front desk crew. The room had a huge king-bed with a small TV with several channels in english. The balcony had a couple benches and plenty of pillows with a perfect view of the blue ocean. The room was nice and clean without any noticeable bugs and the shower was nice and hot in the morning. You can definitely tell that they re-decorated the room with a new pillow top bed. Great sleeps all 8 nights. The only complaints we had was the slamming of doors at night and the lack of mini-frig in the room. These are not huge problems but it did take three phone calls over three days to get the fridge. I can’t think of a way to prevent idiots from slamming doors at 2 AM except maybe public floggings but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. The Omni had a large number of European and Spanish vacationers during our stay and I would say that Americans were the minority. I kind of liked this since it’s nice to meet different people and it makes people watching entertaining. I did get a little irritated when a lady from New York actually commented about her being sick of not hearing English on the elevators. I was going to suggest that she learn a little Spanish before her next visit to their county. At least she wasn’t a Yankees fan!! In general, I thought that everyone that worked at the Omni was extremely friendly during the whole trip. The maids did an excellent job of cleaning the room and provided us with plenty of clean towels. In fact, the entire city was filled with friendly people except for the bus drivers. As a group they were mostly grumpy guys who would try and rip you off when given the chance. I actually got so sick of getting back a couple pesos short that I started giving exact change or telling them how many I should get back. They always corrected the amount but it is a shame this happens. Watch out for this since I heard similar stories from every American I spoke to around the resort. Beach and Pools – The Omni has three nice big pools with a great entertainment staff to keep everyone entertained throughout the day. We didn’t go to any of the big clubs but the staff took people to a different club each evening. Sounded like lots of fun. The new beach in front of the Omni is bigger and better than the past. The hotel has installed about 15 beach umbrellas with several still available at 8:00 am when we came down. These made our vacation since you can retreat for some shade if the sun gets too hot and it is definitely nice to eat lunch out of the sun. The surf was extra high during our stay and I actually got hurt on one of the last days. A couple big waves caught me by surprise and smashed me onto the beach. A partially separated shoulder was not fun to deal with but at least it popped back in place before I had to experience a Mexican hospital. Just watch out for some of the bigger waves. Food – I went shopping at the downtown Wal-mart and picked up several goodies for snacking throughout the week. I have to say that I love this Wal-Mart. The bakery is stock full of great items and everything is so cheap. You can’t beat a 12-pack of Coronas for about $6.75. I also enjoyed a cheap lunch in the deli section. Three tacos for 17 pesos!! Was a little worried about getting sick but felt great all trip. We didn’t really eat much at the hotel but I did order chips and salsa at the beach almost every afternoon. The waiter brings over a huge basket of chips and a cup full of the salsa for $2.99. Try it!! You will miss it each afternoon when you get back to work. I also had the continental breakfast at the beach restaurant one morning. They have fresh fruit and 5 different juices and plenty of pastries. Then you can order pancakes, eggs and meats from the waiter. Great brunch for about $12.50. We ate dinners at Italianni’s (three times), Cambalache Steak House, Carlos’n Charlies, Outback, Johnny Rockets and Lorito Joes and we had a good meal at all of them. Our favorites were Italianni’s and Lorito Joes. The food was very fresh and the waiters were great. I hadn’t read a lot of reviews about Lorito Joes but it surpassed my expectations. The 2x1 dinner was great and the $1.99 lunch was fantastic. Go and enjoy this restaurant and you won’t be disappointed!! Carlos’n Charlies was a great time and was made affordable due to the 2x1 card and reasonable drink prices. If you plan on drinking – seriously consider the $30 package offered by the 2x1 card since the drinks are good and they really know how to party at this place. Overall Feel of Cancun – We really enjoyed our trip to Cancun and last year’s hurricane didn’t stop us from enjoying ourself. However, we definitely saw plenty of construction going on at many hotels along the strip. It definitely distracted from the overall peaceful “feel” of this paradise but it’s nice to see the locals rebuilding their city. We walked up and down the strip at night and never felt unsafe and everyone was eager to give you a big “Hola” when you passed. The surf has a larger amount of seaweed in it compared to previous trips and the water had a large amount of sand floating in it but nothing to worry about. I hope this settles out over the next couple years before we return. Bring plenty of sunscreen and plenty of $1 bills to tip the hard workers around the resort. Thanks for reading this long trip report and feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. Thanks!!
Great report. Sounds like you had fun! Has the fitness centre/gym at the Omni re-opened? We buy weekly passes to use theirs since our hotel has no facilities. Hope your shoulder is feeling better!
Cancun Trip The gym was open and looked pretty nice. They purchased a bunch of new treadmills and other stuff. Almost purchased a three day package but didn't ever feel like getting away from the beach :lol: Shoulder will take a couple weeks to be back 100% but I can move it fully and no long-term damage.
Omni Trip Could someone please remind me how to make a link active. I have a bunch of pics on Webshots and I can remember how to link it to me trip report.
Thanks for the vacation report. My family and I will be staying at one of the Omni villas August 4-11. It's good to hear some positive reviews about the place. We will definitely try the chips and salsa. Is everything ( food, drink, workout gym, etc) charged to your room? Or is it cash ?
If you're not all-inclusive then all charges will be charged to your room. The Omni now has a "no cash" policy.
Am staying at the omni in Decemeber , any body stayed there in the last few weeks? Do they have safes in the room? Thanks. Jim
Omni hotel Wow, my old trip report is dug upa nd now I am planning another trip back to the Omni. Must be fate. Each of the rooms has an ancient safe with a key you can't loose or they have to drill out the safe. It is nice to store everything in there and just forget about it. I have been to the Omni twice and I am happy to give any info as long as you fill me in on any hotel deals you found. I found a great rate at Stays.com where the rooms at $110 a night. Oh, make sure you sign up for the Omni select guest for free and get a bunch of stuff during your stay (robe in your room, morning drinks delivered to your room).
