Oasis Palm

Let me start with the negatives,

THE ROOM

I'm not quite sure if I should blame the hotel or the agency, but we travelled as a family of 5, which is what I specified when searching for hotels.

When checked in we were presented with a (standard) small room with 2 double beds. As you can imagine, we were not happy about it, as we would have to fit 3 children onto one double bed. When we raised the issue with the check in staff, as you'd expect, "nothing we can do unless you upgrade to a family suite", which would obviously cost a lot more. So again, if that is the case, why did a room for 4 people room come up when we obviously wanted a room for 5? Hotels fault? Or agency? 🤷🏽‍♂️ They said they could provide another single bed, which is the option we took, which essentially made the room almost unnavigateable when everyone was present. No room. Points lost.

Secondly, the rooms were really nothing to brag about, we had a mini bar, safe, coffee machine (that didn't function properly) and a small toilet and shower room. The room had the smell of damp. Needed an upgrade of paint, plaster etc. points lost.

Wasn't quite impressed by the room from a quality and decor point of view, but from a "standard room" point of view, wouldn't exactly expect to have a hot tub. Standard room. Standard facilities.

THE FOOD All inclusive buffet for lunch breakfast and dinner. The food was okay. But was disappointed that there was not really a mexican option. I was really looking forward to Tacos, fajitas and that sort of thing. They served tacos once the whole time I was there. Other than that very generic options. English breakfast, stews, rice, vegetables, basic desserts (cakes, mainly) Not necessarily exciting.

THE ENTERTAINMENT I think Mexico in general has it in for kids under the age of 6. In the hotel, there is a kidszone where you can leave the kids for an hour or so to join organised activities. One of which was video games hour (playstation, Xbox etc.) We left our kids there, and came back to find that my youngest was crying because he wasn't allowed to play. When we asked why, "he's not 6 years old". He'll be 6 in less than 4 weeks. It's playstation. He basically sat there the whole hour and watched other kids play. We were very upset by that, and didn't send your kids there again. But like I said previously, we had the "not 6 years old" in many other excursions as well, so it must be a general Mexican thing. 🤷🏽‍♂️

The positives.

THE FOOD. In the buffets had something for everyone I guess, in terms of variety of meats, fish, salads, vegetables. You won't go hungry. Big shout out to the waiter Oscar. Professional and friendly, by the second day he already knew what drinks we had for breakfast and was on it.

They also have 3 a la carte restaurants all inclusive. that you have to book at least a day in advance for dinner reservations. From worst to best (in my opinion) MakiTaco - supposed to be a japanese and mexican fusion (to my understanding) but still had very little Mexican food, mainly semi Japanese soup, shrimp and standard steaks. No real identifiable flavours that stuck with me. ⭐⭐

Los Agaves - I assume is supposed to be a mexican themed restaurant. The soups were better, but still no real mexican flavours (unless my conception of mexican food is way off) Steaks, shrimps, and other little bits. The desserts were quite nice ⭐⭐.5

Cocoa Seafood and Grill - finally a restaurant that actually serves what is identifies as. Again, Steaks, shrimps and other little bits, but in my opinion tasted a little better than the other 2 restaurants ⭐⭐⭐

The Beach - just the other side of the main pool. Very clean, very beautiful. And in brilliant location for some amazing sunrise photos. Although, there was, in my opinion, a major shortage of sun loungers. Literally had to get up at sunrise if you wanted to get one. Saying that, the fact there were so few could be a positive as it leaves a lot of space and doesn't ruin the aesthetic.

The Pools - Two pools and a children's splash pool. The main pool is standard, where some of the activities take place. The secondary pool smaller, has a bar. Splash pool, a bit of fun for the kids. As an adult, the pools were okay, but the kids had a blast. The plus side, you have acces to the sister hotel pool next door, Sens, which is much nicer and has bit more character to it.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

The Shows - Nightly shows starting from 9pm were quite entertaining, including circus shows and a Mexican show. For me the best one was the Michael Jackson Tribute show. Only they repeat the same shows each week, so if you're staying for more than a week, there won't be anything new for the second week.

The Arcade - the sports bar has 2 pool tables (not maintained) and cues with no tips 😂 But for somehow still fun, as you play like your drunk, ball going wherever it wants because the cues have no tips 😂 Fun and sad at the same time. They have a selection of Retro arcade machines, most of which half the buttons don't work, including the start buttons, which basically meant you couldn't start a game 😂 But it was fun playing Streetfighter with only 3 working attack buttons. Challenge accepted! 😂 Again, sad but somehow fun.

The Activities - this the best part. Every day there were activities that bought the hotel guests together, including kayak racing, football, volleyball, random challenge (like balance on a surf board) The Activities staff were so cool. Special shout-out to Tony, Alexander, Aylin and Danny. Very good at there job and made every activity super fun and engaging 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

My overall summary, Nice hotel, potential to be so much better without having to stretch very far. Just needs improvement on the small details, like make the food more interesting, maintain the arcade machines 😂, and give the rooms a lick of paint.

Lovely food and wonderful environment. Our waitress was Ana, courteous and attentive Ana was a wonderful host and should be commended for her efforts.