Overall we had a great stay here. Based on previous reviews here and in the forum discussions, I expected some glitches, which I think helped keep me laid back about the whole situation, so thanks to those that took the time to write and answer questions.

We stayed at the Grand Oasis Viva Beach May 23-27. The Grand entrance is now open. The Grand elevator wasn't working when we arrived, but was in service by the time we left.

Though we requested a king size bed, we got two doubles -- which was fine as I know you are not guaranteed such requests, but it was odd because the two beds were pushed together to create one giant bed. The two bedside lamps had no lampshades. There was a place where the smoke detector should be, but it was not installed. There was no key for the safe, so if you want one be sure to ask when you check in to avoid having to run back and forth (there is a $6 fee).

Our minibar fridge was empty and hot. We asked 3 different times for our minibar to be stocked. Finally on the 4th try we had success. Once it was filled the first time, it was refilled regularly. Here is a tip for the fridge -- because ours was placed inside a cabinet, it never got cold because the vent system was being blocked. If you just leave the cabinet doors open and pull the fridge out a couple of inches, your fridge should work fine.

The food was just alright overall, though I can be a picky eater so your mileage may vary. Definitely head to the Grand buffet (next to the lounge bar) for breakfast, the food and service were great. We tried the reservations-only restaurant Serape one night and were not at all impressed. Both the Italian restaurant (open to everyone) and Brazilian steakhouse (only for Grand guests) were great. Room service was available 24 hours a day and the one time we used it, service was prompt.

As for the bar scene -- we tried the lobby bar in the main Oasis section one night and the crowd there was more your younger partier types getting ready to go out (for comparison's sake my boyfriend and I are 30 and like to get out and have fun, but are not huge partiers). From then on we went every night to the Grand lounge bar, which was great. It was never crowded and the bartenders are friendly and attentive. Plus you can get better liquor there, and they will make your drinks much stronger. During the day we went to the two poolside bars at the main pool and the drinks were very watered down. But there is a small bar, easy to miss, at the back of the Italian restaurant/
burger place, near the Grand pool. There you can get better liquor, stronger drinks, and it's never crowded. Some people have questioned whether the beer they have on tap is truly Corona -- we were unsure at first, but we grilled the Grand bartender about it and he assured us it was. If you add lime to it it does taste better. I think because it's from a keg and because it's made in Mexico, it may taste a little different than what we're used to, but it does the job nonetheless.

Maid service was great, with the exception that they don't provide any shampoo/conditioner, we had to ask a few times before we got some. When we did get it, it was awful on my hair (the water probably didn't help either), so make sure to pack your own. The shower was nice except that no matter what time of day we showered, the water would alternate between being too cold and scorching hot without provocation.

The pool areas were very nice. The main pool is more rowdy, they had games and activities going on which made the atmosphere more fun. The Grand pool was more quiet and relaxed, so it's nice to have the options -- as far as I can tell, anyone can use the Grand pool, as I saw people with purple wristbands there all the time (Grand guests get black bands).

The beach is amazing. It was never tough to find a lounge chair, though those in the shade are harder to come by. The only negative about the beach is that it is very narrow -- we tried to play frisbee out there but it was short-lived. Getting into the water you may encounter some rocks, so be careful, but you quickly figure out where the best places to get in and out are.

The location of the hotel is great. We walked to the shopping/
nightlife area several times, it's about a 10 minute walk and we felt safe even very late at night. We also used the bus to head over to La Isla mall, that was painless and very quick, and a fun adventure.

Overall, while there were a few glitches, we had a great stay. It was my first time at an all-inclusive so I can't compare it to anywhere else, but I think it was great for this trip. I do think the slightly higher price for the Grand was worth it, we ended up spending more time in the Grand areas than I thought we would, so for us it was money well spent.

The hotel was very nice,nice stuff,the restaurant was ok(not excelent!!!,just ok)the room was beautifull!!!great view...plasma TV...very private,if you like to feel VIP,this is the place,the bar is perfect!!!The bartender("JORGE")and his assistent("CATARINA")are really nice and friendly....over all we are clore to everything,so was a great choice...

The hotel was ok, some of the rooms have balconies and others don't so you have to make sure in advance that you request that sort of thing. There are no hot tubs by the pools which kind of disappointed me, but there was Jacuzzis that you could fill up yourself and put bubbles in it. The food was decent, this was the first all-inclusive I have ever experienced so I have nothing else to compare to. The drinks are very watered down, I thought, and there are no top shelf liquors to speak of. My room was ok except there was no vent in the bathroom (that annoys me), and their luggage service is poor (you might as well just take it up yourself). Some people receive welcome drinks and others don't, I don't know how that works but, yeah.

The only restaurant that you have to make reservations for is Serape and you have to get up at 8am and go down to the front desk to make sure a spot is still available.

Oh yea, there are different wristbands that allow more or less service from the hotel. Purple is the least and black gives you access to all the restaurants (I had the black so I don't know what went on with the purple).

My shower was very unpredictable because it kept on going from scorching hot to cold =(.

By the way, I booked this hotel through bookit.com and there was no mention about different color bracelets. I guess we just lucked out with getting the better bracelets, because I had no clue.

Ok to start out the people who complained the "Grand" was not a separate resort obviously did not do their research. Several past reviews for the "Oasis Viva Beach" clearly had complaints about the noise from the construction of a new building. Add that to the two “different” hotels having the same exact address and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's just a new wing in the same "old" resort.

We stayed at the “Grand” section from May 10-16th. For the amount of money we paid it was a great deal. Check-in was fine and the staff was friendly. There was a bit of a mix-up with the reservation but only because the rooms ended up being booked under individual names rather than just the one person who booked for the 5 of us. Not sure if that was the hotel’s doing or the travel site we used to book the hotel (bookit).

The food is just ok but way better than the standard college or work cafeteria stuff. For picky people the buffet is probably your best bet and generally had the best food. The Brazilian steakhouse had just opened a few nights before we arrived so it was pretty empty. The staff was great but the food and drinks were just ok. I agree with the other reviews in that the Mexican restaurant isn’t worth the reservation. The Mediterranean one (Italian) was just ok – service was incredibly slow at dinner time the day we went but the previous day for lunch it was fine. The sushi one was ok but I’m not the best person to ask about that since I don’t actually like it. They were nice enough to give me a bowl of rice instead though. Oh and the menus appeared to change daily so if there isn’t anything you like you can always try another day.

Location wise the hotel is super convenient. If you need to go to Wal-Mart you just hop on the #2 bus. It cost under a $1 and took about 20 minutes to get to downtown Cancun. I’d suggest buying the bulk of your souvenirs there since it was the cheapest place for standard stuff like shot glasses, magnets and t-shirts.

If you get tired of resort food there is a bar/restaurant across the street from the hotel that offers all you can eat Mexican fare for $7. Drinks are extra but the food was good and there was more than enough. The food there was some of the most authentic Mexican food we had all week…and it was way cheaper than the place the hotel recommended. The recommended place was a $12 taxi ride away and had really good food but didn’t really have typical Mexican stuff like tamales or enchiladas.

There is also a Caracal (or something like that) shopping center close to the area with the restaurant/bar. We didn’t go in but it looked like a mini mall. There are also a bunch of other restaurants within walking distance – but they weren’t cheap. There is also a Mexican Outlet store if you walk the inner loop about a mile away. This is definitely a tourist trap but they sell tours there (slightly cheaper than hotel ones) and tons of the standard souvenirs like hammocks, shirts, jewelry, etc. The tour sales place near the $7 all you can eat restaurant/bar also had cheaper tours advertised.

Clubs and bars are about a 10-15 minute walk away from downtown Cancun. Carlos & Charlie’s, Coco Bongo, Senior Frogs and a bunch of others are all right there. The hotel offers trips there every night at 10pm and always includes open bar, “VIP” admission and transportation for about $50. You can also just show up at the bars/clubs and buy an open bar ticket there as well. Carlos & Charlie’s and Coco Bongo have a $55 open bar that includes 3 hours at C&C and “VIP” admission to Coco Bongo with open bar after midnight. By midnight the line for CB was gone but the shows inside were still going on and were really amusing/interesting. And the open bar did include bottled water…

Oh and finally, the beach at the hotel was great. There water in front of the hotel had a huge sandbar with mid-waist high water where people could hang out or float around without worrying about needing to swim or straying too far. Our group played Frisbee in the water which I personally thought was fun. The sand on the actual beach was cleaned regularly to remove small coral pieces and debris. It really helped keep the sand nice and kept the sharp coral pieces away from my feet.