First of all, the hallways and elevators are not air conditioned. The Grand Oasis Viva Beach and Oasis Viva Beach are the same hotel. Just two buildings and two front desks. The food was O.K. There wasn' t 24 hr room service and the restaurants were only open certain hours. The drinks also O.K. The staff wasn't too friendly. Only spoke when spoken to. I traveled with my husband and 2 kids. The first night I went to all the restaurants looking for milk no one had any. I called room service for milk for the baby and I was hung up on. I had to get a taxi and go to a store to get milk at 11:30 p.m. They would run out of towels. The guys at the towel cabana filled up my kids floaties twice with a pump. The next day I went to have them filled and they sent me to concierge. Concierge went to the towel cabana, argued with the towel guys and found the pump in one of the drawers. The pools are kind of small. They look beautiful in the pictures. The beach had a lot of seaweed and was a little rocky. The Riu hotel is next to it and we walked through it. It was spectacular. I'd stay there on the next trip.

We arrived at the Grand Oasis Viva Beach on 5/31/2008, we received a great deal from bookit.com. Last time we were in Cancun we stayed at the Cancun Palace. This place can't compete with Cancun Palace at all, but it wasn't a horrible experience either. We traveled with our children ages 9 and 12, and my parents. We had new rooms on the Grand side, and we were lucky enough to get a corner room (huge)-the older rooms at this hotel looked horrible. The food was Okay, the Italian Rest. was great, but the entire staff was RUDE, beyond belief. We must have spent at least $175.00 during our stay tipping them for drinks and food, but it didn't make a difference. I truly felt that the staff hated all of the tourists, especially Americans. I will never return to this hotel because of the way we were treated. BUT, in all fairness, for the price we paid I can't complain too much. The beach is perfect for young children, because there are no waves. However, the trade-off is that the water isn't nearly as blue or beautiful as it is over at the side of the hotel zone where Cancun Palace is. We visited the Grand Oasis Cancun on one day of our stay, and the kids and ourselves didn't want to go back to Viva Beach. The staff was friendly, the food was better, and the vibe was upbeat and fun. However, if you don't like loud music, and super fun people, don't go and just stay at Viva Beach. The Vibe at Viva Beach is almost coma-like. If you are on a tight budget, and get a deal like we did on this hotel, and you do not have tweens, and can over look being treated badly, then this would be a good hotel for you. Again, if we were treated better, we would have come back here again.

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...