The Joe Pike Blog

When I first visited Cancun in the late ‘90’s, I was a 20-year-old, girl-crazy, cargo-pants-wearing, binge-drinking sophomore in college.

And now?

I don’t wear cargo pants anymore.

Ok, so I guess I really haven’t changed all that much, but my taste has certainly evolved, especially since becoming a travel writer who now visits some of Mexico’s most luxurious resorts.

Perhaps the biz has jaded me a bit or perhaps I’m just getting old, but I no longer prefer thumping, poolside club music; mingling with horny college students (my girlfriend is reading), late night bar food or pounding beers until Susan Boyle starts to look good.

And since 2005, I really didn’t have to worry about stumbling onto that scene again. Hurricane Wilma did a pretty good job that year in erasing a lot of those resorts. The storm created so much damage to the resorts catering to Spring Breakers that they were forced to invest millions of dollars just to stay open.

And just like the ugly girl from high school who magically got attractive after you dumped her, the resorts developed higher standards about who they dated or, in this case, who they let in the door. So, for the last six years, Cancun resorts that were forced to upgrade began shunning beer-guzzling college kids who would wreck a hotel room on a dare for small families looking for a quiet place to stay.

I just visited Cancun this past week for a press trip to see Oasis Hotels & Resorts newly renovated properties. The $30 million project included major and minor touch-ups to all of its four hotels.

And as I visited each of them, I realized I was taking a Scrooge-like adventure into the past, present and future lives of Joe Pike. Well, at least as far as hotel preferences go.

The Old Joe

My buddy Al, The Macho Man and myself in Cancun in the late '90s. Look at those glasses I'm wearing!

Meet Grand Oasis Cancun, the one that got away.

The Cancun scene of the ‘90s that I enjoyed – and could barely remember (thank God there was no Facebook back then)- is not entirely extinct. The evidence can be found at the resort I stayed at – The Grand Oasis Cancun. There is a still a heavy market for younger, party-going guests who want to take part in poolside games, eat chicken fingers by the dozens and flirt with anything with a pulse.

In fact, the resort was pretty packed with guests looking to dance the night away without leaving the resort. So business did not appear to be a problem.

For travel snobs like myself, this resort may not be a good fit. It’s loud, it’s cheap and full of Jersey Shore wannabes. But if you are into this and you are strapped for cash, this is the resort for you. In fact, rates here start at around $70. Old Joe would have drank that by noon. For the type of market this resort is looking to attract, it does a very good job.

The "Bird Men” show by Humanicorp performed in the lobby of the Grand Oasis Cancun

I also must say that the resort had some great nighttime entertainment from the “Bird Men” by Humanicorp, a trippy, Cirque du Soleil-type production featuring a series of stunts and acrobatics performed high above the resort’s lobby by professional artists dressed in loud, colorful bird costumes, to a live performance by R&B legends, Kool & the Gang (can you guess what they closed with?).

Bottom line is this resort is for singles looking to milk that last bit of the MTV Spring Break era or older people like myself who want to see just how silly you actually looked when you were younger.

The Future Joe

I’m not looking for little Joeys to run around anytime soon and deliver me a dose of Karma for all the nightmares I caused my parents, but when I do decide to have some little runts running around, Oasis’ family resorts would be more my speed. I got a chance to tour both the enhanced Oasis Palm Beach and Grand Oasis Palm. Both resorts recently reopened after being closed for a year and cater to a much different crowd than the Grand Oasis Cancun.

The 245-room Grand Oasis Palm is perhaps the company’s go-to resort for families. I was particularly impressed that children under the age of 12 are welcomed at this resort for free.

There are currently two rooms that are specifically decorated for children. One of the rooms, Room #1811S, is decorated with a marine theme. The blue, vibrant walls have such designs as lobsters and submarines, while Room #1804 features a jungle/safari theme, with such designs such as tigers and elephant on the walls. Within the next month there will be eight more of these rooms. Heck, I wouldn’t mind staying in one of these rooms. But I still play video games and watch WWE wrestling  just to give you an idea of my maturity level.

Kool & the Gang perform at the Grand Oasis Cancun

The 470-room Oasis Palm Beach is also heavily family oriented, but the amenities are limited as guests of this resort are not allowed to use the services of Grand Oasis Palm, however clients at Grand Oasis Palm are allowed to use the facilities at this resort.

The most impressive amenity by far is the Kids’ Club. In fact, this is perhaps one of the most impressive kids clubs we have seen in all of Mexico as it features everything from a disco to a pool with a water slide to a children’s restaurant. The club is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is free. The Kids’ Club, however, is only offered to children 12 and under.

If you have some little ones and are looking for a great place to tucker them out at, either of these resorts would be a good fit.

The Present Joe

Sens Del Mar was my favorite of the company’s resorts. Now this is what I am talking about. From the moonlighting in the rooms to the zero noise, this resort has all the tools needed for a good, quiet couples getaway. The property is basically an adults-only resort. Technically, it promotes itself as “adults oriented” since children are welcome at the resort but are charged the same price as an adult and have very limited - if any at all - activities to do at the resort. This, in our opinion, is a good trait as the resort’s quiet and soothing atmosphere provides a great contrast to some of Oasis’ louder, more vibrant properties.

The property consists of 388 rooms. They all basically have the same design and layout, but offer different views. Our hands down favorite rooms, however, were any of the 44 rooms offering a plunge pool on the balcony. The resort plans to add roughly 20 more of these rooms within the next month.

This resort is for younger couples looking for a quiet, relaxing getaway in perhaps Mexico’s most hyper, revitalized destination.

The Bottom Line

A company doesn’t expect you to like all of its resorts. But good companies at least make sure they have a brand for you. Oasis Hotels & Resorts had a resort for just about every demographic from the Spring Breaker to the family man. The rates were cheap enough that you won’t feel guilty wasting your all-inclusive privilege and eating out for one or two nights. And all resorts were located in vibrant areas of Cancun. For more information, visit www.oasishotels.com and keep visiting www.thejoepikeblog.com for more tales of my adventures since it may be your adventure soon enough.