Thanks for sharing! We have always had a great time at the Omni, too!

We live in Grand Blanc which is not Detroit. Its closer to Flint. I use Detroit so people get an idea of where we are. It's an lower middle though upper class city that feeds Oakland County and the Ann Arbor areas. It was a feeder for Flint, but GM is all but gone from our home city. For the record, I consider us middle class working professionals.

If you watch the PGA, the Buick Open is held in Grand Blanc. We live about 3 miles from it.

I'm glad everyone like the pics. It be great if I could just live them all in a section. I uploaded 10 to my review of the Omni at …tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150807-d15489…

BUT - My review is not yet approved.

Tips for the Omnito make your stay more enjoyable and cheaper:

1. They are pushy to try to get you to listen to their membership/vacation club (AKA timeshare). I own one but I came to them because I liked the resort so much. if your a member, they see you have a special bracelet and they leave you alone. They only ask in the lobby. There is usally a lady stationed at both ends of the lobby and they will ask you every time you walk by. Just say your a member and you left your bracelet in the room. Or ignore them.

2. The towel station is rented by Aqua World. Each time you get a towel they will ask you if you want trips, etc. Just say no. There is no avoiding it. The easiest is to say this is my 10th time here and I just want to relax. They will leave you alone.

3. If you do allow them to pitch the timeshare, they will show you all the rooms, give you free breakfast, and $100 off your bill. It is a bit of a high pressure pitch. The trick here is to barter a bit, get them to come down, then say you need some time to go back and think about it. They will give you like a couple hours or something stupid. Then, never show back up. You have the coupon, your all set.

4. Don't buy trips from the inhouse travel agency called Caracol. They are too expensive and again, they rent their facility. Brants tours and Joes Jeep tours are much better and cheaper. Tip, email Joe (jeep tour) directly and he will give you a discount especially in the low season.

5. If you don't go AI, the lobby bar and the jacuzzi bar have happy hours (2 for 1 drinks). Read the signs and take advantage of it. The Omni is NOT cheap but its not horrendous. Fruity drinks = $5, beer =$4

6. Free Wireless Internet Access in the lobby. Bring you laptop. They have a business center but its $5 an hour.

7. They will put a credit card hold on your account. That is very common in hotels, if you don't understand this, just google it.

8. The Omni sits on a high hill. Be prepared to walk up it a lot from the strip. It doesnt sound too bad but after a week it kinda sux.

9. Almost all rooms bigger than a studio have a refrigerator. USE IT. There is only one party store open near by. There used to be more but they are still under construction. OR, just go to get groceries, OR the Omni will get them for you forr 20% of your bill.

10. Bring a collapsable cooler and fill it with beer. They wont and CANT say anything if you take it to the beach and drink it. The beach is FEDERAL property. I've drank the beer at the pools and they never complain. Just dont be stupidly obvious.

11. Get breakfast room service. Its nice.

12. Have breakfast on the beach at the Pina Colada. $14 US all you can eat and the most awesome view for breakfast I have every seen.

13. Tip the maid well $5-$15 per day depending on room size and how messy. You can leave her requests and she will usually get them . Try to leave a note with the Spanish word for what you want. I am referring to things like more coffee (most rooms have coffee makers and coffee), sugars, utensils, etc. Or ask her to wash the dishes. They usually wont unless you ask. Terrible translation is" Lavarse los platos por favor.

14. As always, you can get what you need just by called the front desk too.

--As I think of more I will add them to this post. I want to keep my pictures up for reveiw for a while. Some of these tips may make me look cheap but I don't do them all, all the time. USe whatever ones you like. One thing I do is tip pretty BIG, and some of these corners cuts allow for this.

ShadyBee et al: I have about 50 new Isla Mujeres pics coming from one of the couples that went with me. They will posted when I get them. Thats a great time too. Check the post by CancunsNo1. Get a map from mapchick. www.mapchick.com.

You can rent a scooter instead of a golf cart if you dare....

Hey Eric, thanks for all the money saving advice. My wife and I will be going the All Inclusive route mainly because we don't anticipate leaving the Omni very often, but we are seriously considering sitting though the timeshare spiel for the $100 vouchers. Do we each receive a voucher? Because saving $200 would definitely be worth it. We are already timeshare owners (Interval International), but $200 is $200 right.

While on Isla we were planing on renting scooters, that seems like a great time. Do we always need to keep the scooters in sight, are they the time of thing we have to worry about getting stolen?

Thanks again for your advice.

One of My closest friends parents live in Grand Blanc she is kind of a local celebrity, Karen Newman. I used to live off of I75 Adams Road exit and worked many years at Pine Knob both the Music Theatre and as a Ski Instructor in the winter . I miss the four seasons like you can't even imagine.

Cunspin - Whoa, Karen Newman as in the singer for the Detroit Red WIngs??? I am a die hard red wing fan. Spent way too much money at the JLA. How did you wind up in Cancun? I have lived here all my life and really want out. I HATE the winter. Always have. The only thing that keeps me here is family (especially since we just had a baby boy in April). I am a comp programmer but I have a Masters in IT Management so I am looking to move on. My wife has nearly completed training to be an RN. Someday, we may move out to Arizona. The economy hass really went downhill in MI. Anyway, drop me an email as I have questions...so I don't post a million times. eric AT ericavery DOT com

Shadybee - 1 voucher per couple, but it might be worth it. They are a little pushy in the Sales room but not too bad. Just barter a bit, take their offer with you and then deny it. Don't deny it in the room, they keep bartering and bartering and....

I get too bored so I cant go AI. The Omni's dinners will grow old. Nearby, hit Laguna Grill and Loritos Joes - both fantastic. I think the Omin gives you a dine out voucher...

Scooters: If I recall, they had lock, kinda like bike likes for added security you could then chain it to a tree.

Isla...be sure to take the speed ferries from Puerto Juarez. Just $3 each way. But its north of town. Hop an R1 bus NOT R2 and its the last stop before it turns around. Its kinda a ride but you see a lot on the bus.

Tulum/Xel-ha - Great trip. I like Xelha better than Xcaret. Tulum is just another ruin but nice to see once. I have the same take on Chitza-Itza. Go AI at Xelha. I think its like $30 more.

Those 2 tours and some shopping is a good week. Nice and relaxing. The more trips I make to Cancun, the more I tend to do but I just hop the ADO or rent a jeep. but that me. ADD+some

Too bad you can't get the member discounts. Where did you book through? The only kinda crappy rooms are studios that face away from the ocean. But they are so slow, I doubt you get anything like that.

If you see these people: Rafeal, Anne, Carlos, Marisol, Gonzo, Joe (from Joes jeep tours) and Yamile, the Averys says hello! They are im member services.

Cunspin - funny too - if read my all my posts in this thread you will see that im at home this week with a knee operation. I tore it playing hockey... Karen is definitely a local celeb. But really only in the hockey world which is huge up hear in hockeytown... but man ... have you followed the Tigers??? WOW.

1 MORE IMPORTANT TIP

A lot of airlines are slapping 50 lb limits on each bag of luggage. I only pack 1 bag (total of 2 - one for wifey) ...one bag is half empty on the way down. But we push those 50 lb limits.

If you go over, they will charge you $25 per bag which is BS in my opinion since you can check like 2 bags each.

So, pack an empty bag inside a bag or just check an empty bag so you can bring stuff back easier. Better yet, try to weigh your stuff before leaving so you can repack.