March 4 – 9th Trip Report at the Omni Hotel - Photos added March 4 – 9th Trip Report at the Omni Hotel - Photos added We are just getting back from another great trip and I better write down the highlights before I forget everything. We got a great rate with Orbitz because of a $100 off code I found on this site – so thanks for all the info and pre-planning suggestions. Day 1 – Thursday – We left out of Cleveland at 6:45 and arrived into Cancun at 11:30 on time and ready for some fun. Hold on there sparky. It took us an hour to get through the line at immigrations and another half hour to board our Best Day shuttle, so we were not officially out of the airport until nearly 1:00 but at least it was warm! The Best day staff was friendly and the bus was very clean. We had booked a lagoon view at the Omni but the front desk had upgraded us to an ocean view room without being asked (I am a select guest and it sounds like they look for an available upgrade if it’s available). The room was not ready but we had good lunch at the beach front restaurant and were checked into our room by 2:00. The room was nice, clean with a huge balcony and a nice new semi-soft bed. The weather was a little cold (lower 70s) and very windy which put a damper on laying out but we swam in the ocean for a bit and grabbed a drink in the huge swim up bar before grabbing a nap from 4 – 7:00 (not young enough to withstand getting up at 4:30!) Got up and used the 2x1 card to get a free dinner at Carlos and Charlie’s and it was a fun place but the food was pretty much a Friday’s with fun crazy waiters. The drinks were very expensive but you get a strong drink for your money – so I guess it all evens out. Overall a fine place but I don’t know if I would go out of my way to go back. Day 2 – Friday – Omni seemed pretty dead with the average age of people by the pool being around mid-40’s with almost no kids. It was nice and sunny but we really needed some snacks for the week so we headed down to Wal-Mart to grab some stuff and for those that have not gone – this Wal-Mart kicks butt. Fresh fruit for a couple bucks. . cheap bottles of booze . . cheap beer . . snacks and breakfast bars. Everything you need for a week in the sun. Got back to the room by noon just in time to watch the sun go behind some clouds and for the wind to kick up. Oh well – we hit the pool and had a good time reading and relaxing by the pool and ended up getting plenty of sun. I talked my girlfriend into trying Itallianis in the La Isla mall and let just say it is now one of her favorite places. Fantastic service and even better food. The secret to this place is their huge serving sizes. Order an appetizer and one main meal with a desert and it’s plenty to split between two people. Couple drinks and it will only be $40 for a fantastic meal!! Don’t miss out on trying the chocolate crusted mousse cake that had us stuffed and satisfied. Day 3 – Saturday – Another semi cloudy day but the wind had stopped and the temp was on its way up. We had a timeshare presentation planned at 8:00 to get $200 in room credit and it included a free breakfast (very good buffet breakfast at the Omni) and it was a good presentation that will have us thinking about a future timeshare options (maybe a second hand purchase). We were at the pool/ocean at around 11:00 and it was a good day of enjoying a mostly sunny sky. We tried the sushi and it was pretty good. Overall the Omni is the best hotel I have ever been at in terms of friendly staff! The hotel is a little dated but the staff is outstanding. Your drink is never empty and they maintain a spotless place. After getting nice and pink out in the sun and enjoying a few drinks in the Jacuzzi bar – we headed out to Distilleria for dinner. If Amanda liked Itallianis – she loved Distilleria!! The service was remarkable! From the mariachi band that sang request, to the free dinner shots, to the fantastic food – this place has it all. I think the meal was about $60 but it also included a nice sampler of top-shelf sipping tequila which was a nice addition to my meal. Let’s just say that we enjoyed out room time throughout the trip but we REALLY were juiced up after such a fantastic night out (or maybe it was the tequila)J Day 4 – Sunday – Woke up to a sunny and warm day!! Yea!! It had to be near 80 in the sun and only a cooling wind. We hit the beach by 9:30 and enjoyed a long day of playing in the surf and walking the beach. The pools at the Omni were still very cold but the ocean was great. The hotel seemed a lot busier today and the number of spring breakers was much higher than yesterday. We walked probably 2 miles in either direction and it is amazing how crowded the Oasis beach was. Wall to wall college kids with way too much noise for this 36 year old. I much prefer the quiet beach to the south. We ordered the pool side pizza at our hotel and it was really very good. Very fresh! By 4:00 we were pretty fried and headed to the room for a “nap” and planned our meal. After scanning the menus online we picked the Crab House since it’s on the 2x1 card. This restaurant has most of its seating outside on the lagoon side and it’s probably the fanciest place we ate at all week. The Caesar salad is a treat and the steaks were very large and very tasty. We had a slight issue with the bill in terms of the 2x1 card but I’m thinking Brant will get it resolved for future users. Very good waiter and was definitely a place I would recommend. We walked back to the hotel and stopped in at the Gran Melia hotel for ice cream cones. Holy cow – that place is fantastic looking. Long vines grow in the center of the main building and the whole place just has a relaxing feel. Several nice looking restaurants have us thinking about switching hotels in the future. We walked the beach back to the Omni and you could hear the yelling from the room parties at the Oasis from the beach. Thank god we were not at the Oasis! Day 5 – Monday – Isla day!! We got up early and bused over to the ferry near the closed Fat Tuesdays. It runs every hour and cost $15 round trip but the boat was fairly steady and it was a quick ride (20 minutes). We ended up doing some shopping and did ok but probably overpaid by 25% at least (how can you pass up a $3.00 dollar etched shot glass!) We rented a bicycle for $100 pesos for the day and rode down to the south point. Word of advice – make sure you are in decent shape before trying this trip since there are a couple hills that will kill ya. We stopped at the turtle farm and it was ok for $3 but I would not stop again since it was very tame. The southern tip has some shopping and a small lighthouse and I picked up a nice sounding shell for $5 and my girlfriend got some cool earrings. We ended up stopping at a cool resort near the southern tip and paid $39/person for use of the place from 1:00 – 4:00. It included a buffet lunch, drinks (alcoholic and non), showers, zip line, snorkeling and plenty of pools to hang out in. This place was definitely the highlight of our trip. Both of us had not zip lines and it was a blast. Snorkeling was a little tame but a fun hour in the surf. We took the ferry back at 5:30 feeling pretty much beat. We did the Mexican buffet at the hotel and let’s just say I’m happy we did not eat at the hotel all the time. The buffet was a step up from Home Town Buffet and we both were kind of bummed that it was our last dinner of the trip. Glad we got out to enjoy some good dinners! Day 6 – Tuesday – Trip home – Best Day had us meeting them in the lobby at 8:00 for an 11:10 plane and they were in the lobby at 7:50 demanding we meet them at 8:00 or he was leaving. The trip was fairly long since we stopped at nearly every hotel to the south of the Omni. The President’s wife was in town for a wedding and the streets were PACKED with police and army personal carrying VERY large machine guns and plenty of other firepower. Not something you see every day! We got through customs in about forty-five minutes (or about an hour and a half before our flight!!). Flight into Atlanta was ok with a short line for customs. Got to the front and then the guy takes my passport and puts it in a red envelope and tells me to follow him. He gives the packet to an armed guard and he tells me to sit in a small room with a few other people until I’m called. I’m completely freaking out!! I’ve never gotten more than a speeding ticket in my life and I’m sitting there watching a half hour turn into an hour and then two hours and started thinking this not going to end well. Needless to say – a guard comes out and he tells me that they had me confused with someone else and he is sorry for the incontinence. What!!! Our plane leaves in 10 minutes and we still have not even gotten our bags yet. We miss the flight and we quickly learn that the next two flights are completely booked and the best Delta can do is put us on stand-by and give us a $50 coupon for a hotel if we miss both flights. Now I’m beyond pissed! We end up getting on the next flight 2 ½ hours later but it made for a LONG last day of vacation! I think we both missed Cancun even when we went to sleep in our own bedL What I learned on this trip: 1. I am not an all-inclusive person if I have to do buffet meals for dinner. I can do breakfast and a couple lunches but there better be a bunch of sit-down dinner options or I’m not happy. 2. I have to admit that I would probably not get the 2x1 card next trip. I’ve gotten it 4 different times and they seem to be making it more and more difficult to use. You have to order more than a meal after 5:00 and the restaurants are mostly ones I probably would not pick if it was not on the card. Brant has great service and is a great guy but I probably will stick with booking trips and private airport transfers on future trips. 3. The Omni is a great hotel with a great staff. But it does lack some of the sparkle of some of the larger similarly priced hotels. The Marriot and the Melia both looked like you got more bang for your buck and the pool staff seemed to have more tequila volleyball events and less movie trivia bingo. If you do stay at the Omni – spend the 5 minutes and sign up for the free select guest card. It gives you free Wi-Fi, robes and free drinks in the room each morning. And to top it off – you can order bagels and Mexican breakfast items for about $2.00 per person. It’s free – just do it! 4. Cancun is still recovering from the swine flu and the poor economy is really taking a huge dent in their business. The local paper had the hotel occupancy rate at around 70% for the first week in March which is about 20% lower than 3 years ago. Plus hotel rates are about 25% lower than 3 years ago so it’s a good time to go!! The timeshare people are really hungry to get you into presentations so go see a 2 to 3 hour tour and get $200 - $300. That gives you spending money for your whole trip! 5. I always felt safe even in downtown Cancun and it really is as near paradise as I have found. Give a local a heartfelt Hola and Gracias and you will not meet a nicer group of people. Hope this helps bring back some memories for your past trips and maybe even gave you a chuckle at my detainmentJ Cancun. . I miss ya!
Thanks for the detailed trip report! It's been a while since we've had one here so thanks for taking the time to write it. That must have been a scary time at the airport. Did the guy really say sorry for the "incontinence" or was that a typo? LOL
Steve - it was a typo but that was the funniest typo I have ever had. It definetely was the nearest I have ever been to needing a fresh pair of boxers
I just want to give Brant a huge thumbs up in terms of being not only a stand up guy but maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. The Omni lost my first card and he ran a second card to my hotel later that day. I used the card twice and saved at least twice the cost of the card but has some issues at the Crab House and he made things right even thought it was the Crab House's fault. I am on the fence in terms of getting it on my next trip but I would definetely recommend it to anyone who is looking to eat at the restaurants on his list. Thanks Brant.
I hope the pictures help bring it all together. My family is planning a Hawaii family reunion next March and I have my 20th high school reunion in Alaska next summer - so maybe 2012!
Wow, some fab pics there. Why can't I take pics like that? I might have to ask permission if I can use some of them around the website
My girlfriend has a nice camera and she does take a mean picture. Your welcome to use which ever picture you want. My casa su casa.
