Hello all! I am going to be staying at GOS June 1-6. I have read quite a few reviews of this resort, but still have a few questions I was hoping some of you beautiful people could answer for me. I booked through Groupon for a Grand Room. 1. Regarding upgrades... what do you guys suggest? From the reviews it seems that they give you an option to upgrade to a grand plus at an additional cost or just get a bracelet with vip benefits and stay in the grand room. Also, does anyone know the costs associated with these upgrades? 2. Are some of the floors better than others? Should I request a certain floor or does it not matter? 3. Has anyone utilized the runaway program I saw on their website? I was thinking about visiting the Oasis Pyramid or Grand Oasis possibly for a day as they state it is free of charge to do so. 4. I see a lot of reviews mentioning the dinner reservations are very hard to come by. Is my best bet my first morning to get up early and try to book a couple? Which restaurants that require reservations are the best? Sorry for the 50 questions, just trying to have an idea of what to do/expect. I appreciate all answers Also, any other tips for a 1'st timer that you have please share, I'm all ears
1. We've been 4 times. Upgraded to Sian Ka'an once. It was a complimentary upgrade, but I would not have paid for it. You get access to a couple extra bars, a cordoned-off section of beach, and a free dinner at Benazuza. Other than that, you're treated exactly the same as the other guests. I've heard it's upward of $100 per day to upgrade, but I'm not positive. 2. We've been on the very bottom level and we've been on the very top level, with a couple rooms in between. Each has its perks. The lower levels are closer to the pools and beach. The upper levels have better views. 3. Yes. If you go during Spring Break, you cannot go to the Grand Oasis, due to all of their Spring Break events, but you just have to talk to concierge and they'll set you up with all the information. 4. I do not understand the comments about dinner being difficult to get. We've never had an issue getting reservations, or going hungry at any of our stays at the Sens. There are four restaurants open every night that do not require reservations at all (Mexican, Italian, Asian/Mexican Fusion and the Buffet). The ones that require reservations are the Black Hole, Schillabar, Sakura and Benazuza (Benazuza is extra if you are not a Sian Ka'an level), and you do have to wait in line first thing in the morning to get reservations at these restaurants. The Sens is not TTR. I think a lot of people have gone with the wrong expectations, hence the bad reviews or outright anger towards the hotel and its staff It is an older hotel, although they are constantly cleaning and doing maintenance. Service is definitely slower at the Sens, but our attitude has always been that we're on vacation, and we're there to relax, so we try to slow down too. Eduardo or Esteban make amazing drinks and will take good care of you. The beach is lovely, and you can literally walk for miles. Some people like the main pool, but we've always preferred the Schillabar pool and the constant availability of the sun beds. Happy to answer anymore questions you might have.
Thanks so much for the reply! 1. Yes, I do not think I will upgrade the room because I figured that would be a lot more expensive and I'm not planning on spending a whole lot of time in the room anyways. I'm most interested in possibly just getting the vip wristband and not upgrading the room. Again, that is depending on the price to do so. 2&3. Good to know, thanks! 4. So can I just get up early the first morning I'm there and make multiple reservations? Or can I only make reservations for that current day? Gotcha, this is my first time in Cancun, and at the price point for a five night all-inclusive stay and airfare I'm not going to complain about much! As long as the drinks are flowing I'll be happy
1. To upgrade onsite from Grand Plus to Kian was $90 more a night. The "VIP" I noticed was a premiere bar with no lines, a special beach area with beds & a plunge pool on the terrace. In retrospect, I could have booked it online for $80 more a night. Not waiting in a bar line & premium liquor, plus a plunge pool that could have been used for evening parties wink wink. 2. We were on the 8th floor with a balcony-great view. 3. N/A for us 4. The line for dinner reservations had at least 20 people in it each morning and overheard people becoming frustrated. The Blackhole experience was definitely worth it! Other Take a Bubba mug or other beverage container. Be prepared for stairs-everywhere, even when you don't think there would be a step down. Don't miss the foam party. There's a coffee shop behind & to the left of Concierge, on the way to the pool in the back. There's a beach massage hut a couple of hotels down. L
The gingerandthegiant nailed it. We never upgrade our room, but we do upgrade our wristbands. $90 for upgraded room (without vip bands), or something like $180 to upgrade to Sian Kaan (with vip bands). We just upgrade the bands for $24/pp/day which brings our room to a total $240/night. If we arrive later in the day, we won't upgrade till the next morning. We've found their house liquor to be horrible. You shouldn't taste vodka like that and the hangovers suck. We stick with Grey Goose/Champagne, baileys, etc. Between the upgraded alcohol, beach beds (which come with full service, including a lunch menu others can't get) and Benazuza, it's totally worth it for us. Booking dinners isn't too bad. Just be in line at 7:45 and you can book. Sometimes they let you book days in advance, sometimes just one day in advance, depending on how booked the hotel is. Don't miss Black Hole, it's awesome. Our last trip was over spring break and they were packed, but we got into every single restaurant without issues. Actually we didn't even book Schillibar, some friends we made added us to their reservation. That one you have to be at the restaurant at 6:00 to book, if I remember correctly. The box also has snacks late at night and you book it directly at the restaurant. We just walked by and got our name on the list without issues. We went to Grand Oasis over spring break but had to pay (Lil Jon concert). I think we're going to head down to the Tulum one next week. Still debating on transportation though (heard bad things about the smart cars). We'd like to see the ruins and stop at some Cenotes. One thing to keep in mind. The lighting in the rooms sucks, especially the bathroom. Bring a light if you'd like to be able to actually see the makeup you're putting on.
Thanks so much for the replies everyone! I will definitely be upgrading the wristbands as it seems like a small price for what you get.
Is there free wifi throughout the whole resort or do only the upgraded rooms get free wifi? Also if the standard rooms do not get it included what is the price for it per day and per week?
It's free. They sometimes say it's for upgraded rooms but they always gave us the code. It sucks though. I never used it as using normal data on my phone worked much better.
Regarding the "runaway program", the last time we stayed - we stayed for several days at the Grand Oasis, and then followed with the Sens for a week plus. We have never used the runaway program before, but have walked from the Sens to the Grand several times (not a bad little walk) and we never attempted to just walk onto the property... This last stay, it became obvious that we could have. When we changed properties - we got the EXACT same wristbands. Now, I'd guess that during spring break - there's probably heightened security, but during the slower seasons, I'd bet $100 that you could walk onto the property order drinks, go to restaurants, and have a blast without ever being asked a question. That said - our understanding is, you only need to get permission from your front desk and they'll register you in the program for the day... Enjoy!
Yes, we took one of the smart cars this last stay down to Tulum. We hit up some cenotes on the way and saw the Tulum ruins. On the way back, we stopped at Grand Oasis Tulum and just walked right in. You can check in at the desk and they'll give you a tour, but we just walked around like we were staying there. We had to get someone to get us into the Sian Kaan area though because normally you'd have to use your room key to get in. I have to say though that that resort is boring. The few people in the adult pool looked bored and there was nothing going on.
