I'm sure those of you who are interested in hearing about the Sens will be reading reviews elsewhere, so my extra long-winded review about Sens should be up on TripAdvisor shortly if you want more detail about the bars and restaurants. We had a really great time, and it had a lot to do with the staff there, so I wanted to keep the public review mostly positive for their sakes. I'm smart enough to know that just because my stay there was excellent, doesn't mean it was typical. However, I think we were able to do certain things that helped make our stay better. They were: 1) Reserved a Sian Kaan Club room (VIP) when we booked. 2) When we were assigned a room on a lower floor, we said we knew the higher floor rooms were better and asked to be moved. We may have gotten lucky, but our room was devoid of all of the things other reviewers had complained about. 3) We made reservations to the good restaurants our first day there. 4) We brought Bubba mugs for the pool (thanks for the tip TTR forum!) to make sure we had cold drinks no matter where we were or what we were doing! 5) We engaged the staff. We weren't afraid to talk, ask questions or make requests. I think it also may have helped a teensy bit that I tried to speak Spanish to them whenever possible, although they all spoke decent English. 6) We tipped, and tipped well. I'm not made of money, but I budgeted a good amount of money for tips, and while I didn't see anyone get bad service for not tipping, I often felt like a rock star later in the week when staff would greet us personally when we walked into a bar or restaurant, and I saw the quality and amount of alcohol they used to mix our drinks! :icon_biggrin: My tipping habits were: - $1 USD or 20 pesos for every drink we ordered - $10 on first day for maid, $5 dollars each day, and 200 pesos on the last day. - $5-$10 for buffet or simpler restaurants, but I tipped $40 at the high-end Benazuza restaurant. - 20 pesos per bag for bellmen or transportation drivers - Also tipped $5 to concierge or desk staff that did anything to try and accommodate our requests. I can't say for sure that tipping will guarantee you the kind of stay we had, but it sure can't hurt. I'll let you read the review on TripAdvisor for details about the bars and restaurants. Bottom line is the food ranged from terrible to mind-blowing, but overall it was much better than I expected and we definitely got our money's worth. After reading about some of your adventures at TTR, I would have to compare the adult fun vibe at Sens as next to nil. There is a VIP pool that is topless optional, but its VERY quiet, and nearly dead most of the time. The main pool is fun, but not in a sexy way. We met quite a few other couples there and made friends, but there wasn't a very social vibe amongst the guests. Couples mainly stayed to themselves, and there aren't many activities to encourage social behavior. This was a little disappointing because we were feeling a bit adventurous, but we still had a great time. We did channel that adventurousness into some mind-blowing fun between the two of us though! But we were a bit embarrassed when we met the couple whose room was right below our patio. He gave us a great big knowing smile when he realized we were making all the noise above him at night! Talking to other couples, we learned that not all rooms at Sens are created equal. Having read higher is better, and being able to get a VIP room on the top floor, I can attest that we lucked out. There were small things wrong with the room, but they were far outweighed by all the things we loved about it. We met quite a few couples that were "upgraded" from the Viva. They didn't know what to expect, so they were apprehensive about Sens after they arrived, but they seemed to enjoy their stay later in the week. Something that's good and bad about the Sens: it's not that big. I liked it because we would make friends and then run into them all over the resort. That was fun. Bars/restaurants were located fairly close to one another. It's not a great thing because some of the bars/clubs were relatively dead at night. If you just want a quiet couples get-away and you are not the party type, the Sens is probably ideal for you. There are some pockets of fun and craziness happening, but you definitely had to either look for them or make them yourself. Having contact with approximately 40+ staff during the week, I can say I only had negative experiences with maybe 2, and one of them made up for it later in the week. They were outstanding and hard-working. I credit them mostly for making it a great vacation. Outstanding staff were Modesto at the VIP bar, Victor at the VIP bar, lobby bar and Kinky nightclub, Nelson the host of Kinky, Raphael the concierge and Ernesto at the swim up bar. There were a few others who's names I just forgot, also. This is NOT a gay resort. If it had been, it wouldn't have bothered me, but it is important to note that it is LBGT friendly, not catered to LGBT. I didn't see any more gay couples than I would strolling around Chicago. In fact, I really didn't notice them unless I looked for them. Based on their marketing, I'm sure first-time guests wonder what LBGT-friendly means. It simply means that everyone is treated equally regardless of their sexual preferences. I posted a few pics of our trip here: Oasis Sens Aug. 2014 Gallery I know some of you are anxious about your upcoming trips to the Sens (as we were) so if you have any questions, fire away and I'll do my best to answer them. CR
Looks like a nice place to relax and chill. Loved the pic's. Glad you had a good time...nice review! Jeff n Jill
Thank you so much for posting! We ARE getting the Sian Kaan Club VIP room - although my husband doesn't know it yet. It's his 50th, so I upgraded. Your pictures are great! I wish you were going to be there when we are there - you look like a fun couple to hang out with. Your tips were very helpful. We do think we tip above average, but I will really keep it in mind this time. Sometimes I do think we miss certain people who have made our trip better. I do think that in a smaller resort such as this, it would pay to get to know some staff and chat them up -- it makes it more fun, too! Sometimes in a large, busy place it's harder to do that. We'll be there in October, so I'm thinking it probably won't be very busy. Sure hope there are some fun guests when we are there, though. We have already made up our minds to have fun no matter what it turns out to be like, and enjoy our trip, no matter what. Any place in Cancun is better than a day at work, back in Minnesota, LOL. Oh - also loved your tip to get a room on a higher floor. I hope we don't have to haggle too much to get a good room, but I did pay the extra, and I don't care if the room is "perfect" - but I definitely want to wake up in the morning to a beautiful view. Thanks!
Love your review, question for you since you brought up the TTR compare. Is it quieter/tamer because of the people or is it a resort policy thing?
Love it. Looks like a nice clean, classy resort. I just wish they could get that TTR Party! Thanks for posting your Trip report!
Nice trip report we are going to try it the last week of November, probably going to miss the TTR vibe but with all the crap that has happened in past year laid back will be fine Beach, Cocktails, meeting people stands for good time
