Ocean Maya Royale is the place we go for an easy, cheap and relaxing getaway. There is no planning needed and we always have a nice time. OMR is a small, adults-only, budget hotel and we know exactly what to expect.
As I've said in all of my previous posts, when we visit OMR we have our daily routine. We love to relax, have fun and literally do nothing but spend time together. The icing on the cake is we are treated like royalty.
We have visited OMR 25 times since July 2013, so if you're a fellow traveler looking for additional information, you can find the links to all of our previous visits on the right side of the main page of the blog.
Some of this is repetitive from our visit in December. The reality is, not much has changed in 5 months, and we still have the same routine!
It's often assumed that we're H10 members based on how often we have visited...the answer is actually "No". We travel a lot and enjoy exploring other non-all-inclusive locations.
My life is about planning, so OMR is where we go and I don't have to plan a thing!
Nevertheless, enjoy the read and I hope this answers some questions.
The best way to see all the menus and activities is to visit https://omr.oceanbyh10.com/en/
During this trip, we were joined by 20+ other OMR regulars. Many of us have visited 10, 15, 20+ times. It's no secret the reason we all continue to return time and time again is the STAFF!!
When we arrived, the Entertainment staff had a "Welcome Back" sign at the party pool with our photos. Simple details like this always make us feel right at home.
Having been to OMR so many times, we have met a lot of lifelong friends. To say we had fun again is an understatement. We're all regulars and all part of the OMR family.
On our first night, we had dinner at La Dolce Vita (of course!) We were joined by Rocky, Barbie, Ed, Darcy and Tanya. We all met at OMR over the years and have visited a collective 100+ times. I guess you can say we sort of like the place.
No trip is complete without a few Chambongs!
The staff have been like family since Day One.
During our visit in July 2018, Carolina took a picture of us with Darcy, Tanya, Ron and Jean. She printed the picture, framed it, and hung it up on the "Wall of Fame" at Blue Moon.
As of this visit...we're still on the wall!
You have to look closely because the black and white photo is alongside Humphrey Bogart and other old celebrities. Not other guests! Hahaha.
Moving onto other highlights...
We start every morning at the lobby bar where Tiger makes us Don Julio Reposado bloody Maria’s. Quite possibly the best we've ever had.
Over the last 6-8 months, they have expanded the vodka and tequila options for Privilege guests. We love having Belvedere vodka martinis in the lobby before dinner. We also enjoy Don Julio 70 (new this trip!) and 1800 Anejo after dinner. Both are very nice upscale tequilas.
Wings at the sports bar are an essential part of our diet at OMR (wings are only available from 6-10 pm). As with every visit, lots of wings and rings were consumed during our stay! We also enjoyed mozzarella sticks afternoon 11 pm.
If you're reading this and know ANYTHING about me and Steve, or even read ANY of my other travel posts, then you know we are true foodies. I will emphasize that we do not visit OMR for the food...we visit for all of the other reasons I've already mentioned!
When it comes to the restaurants, La Dolce has the best atmosphere. We eat there as often as possible and enjoy the Chicken Valdostana (OMR's version of chicken Parmesan). I will admit that I'm a creature of habit and during our 7 night stay, we ate here 6 times...and I ordered Chicken Valdostana all 6 times :) It was closed one night!
We have visited every restaurant so many times over the years. We know what we like and we know what we don't like. I wished they changed menus more often.
La Dolce Vita is our happy place.
Tiger's Bloody Maria's are my favorite part of the day. Next is probably the a la carte breakfast at Privilege. They'll make whatever we want, but the fried eggs with hash browns and avocado are usually pretty flawless.
The Privilege lunch menu has several items. The fish croquettes, fish tacos and coconut shrimp are quite good.
Blue Moon is nice for a quiet and romantic dinner.
There is an a la carte menu for lunch at El Charro and is located directly next to the quiet pool. We enjoy the beef and shrimp tacos. We've also ordered the chicken quesadilla at dinner and it always hits the spot.
There is a grill outside of El Charro that is rarely open anymore. It used to be a huge hit!! I'm not sure the reason, but it was nice when they offered a quick bite to eat near the pool. You were able to eat it at a table outside of El Charro.
Yookoso is your typical hibachi restaurant with a separate a la carte sushi menu.
While we don't frequent the buffet at La Hacienda often, I always take a lot of pictures. The fruit is delicious and they have traditional breakfast foods, as well as eggs/omelets to order. The earlier you go, the fresher the food.
At lunch, they always have a pasta bar and plenty of meat, cheese and veggies to make sandwiches. We enjoy the lunch at the buffet when we're looking for something quick and not too filling.
Every night there is a themed dinner at La Hacienda. While we didn't eat dinner at the buffet, I like to walk around and take pictures. They always have lots of salads and grilled proteins.
The buildings are set-up as 8 room villas (4 first floor/4 second floor).
The rooms are comfortable and they recently renovated most of the bathrooms. Once you've been to the resort a few times, you have a pretty good idea of what rooms you like!
This visit we were in room 1104. It was a great location near the party pool, but we like to take a siesta every day around 3 pm...and that's exactly the time when the party pool gets particularly loud. hahaha. The nap just had to wait :)
We typically enjoy buildings closer to the quiet pool (29, 33, 36) to accommodate our afternoon siesta :)
We spend most of our time at the pools. Steve and I are known to frequent the quiet pool, but when others are in town...you can find us at the party pool too!
You can easily spot our chairs with our Cavs shirts. Just because we're not in our seats, doesn't mean we're not in the pool nearby!
The beaches at OMR are somewhat small, but there are times when the warm breeze and sound of the waves are just what you need. We never have an issue finding beach chairs.
The sargassum on the beach can be hit or miss and I honestly don't know if depends on the season. When we visited last October, the beaches were beautiful...a week later they were a wreck.
We visited for 10 days over Christmas and they were pristine with no sargassum during our entire stay.
This May 2024 trip, we had quite a bit of sargassum (but we've seen worse). It doesn't bother us much and it's evident at every nearby hotel. They work hard to take it away every day...all day.
We have visited nearly every month of the year. I can say we've had the most rain in October and July is typically the HOTTEST.
The pool water can be pretty cold in December, January and February (and it's the most expensive). May is probably my favorite time of the year to visit (and one of the cheapest!)
This year it was unseasonably hot in May and the hottest May that Mexico has ever recorded. We took more breaks from the sun and came back with pretty incredible tans!
Thank you to our second family for your kindness and generosity. Vacation is what you choose to make of it and we choose happiness.
In the end, this is where we go to de-stress from life back home. We always return feeling refreshed and happy.
Cheers!
Next on the SMS travel docket is THREE WEEKS in Bonaire during July and August.
