 Dazzling resorts dotted along the white sand shores of Cancun, Mexico come a dime a dozen, but we chose to stay at The Pyramid at Grand Oasis and will definitely be returning again. Here's why. 1. Location, Location, Location! The best beach experience in Cancun lies on what is referred to as the "Hotel Zone"- a 1/3 mile stretch of beach which boasts the clearest water and finest, whitest sand. The Pyramid is located directly in the center of it, where you are within walking distance to shops, malls and restaurants, should you feel the need to leave the resort (although with so much to do, you won't want to!) 
 2. The food! The Pyramid has some of the BEST restaurants in Cancun; literally, five of them are listed in the top ten restaurants in Cancun on TripAdvisor. The food quality is tremendous (think the best meat cuts and seafood!), with incredible variety (all you can sushi!) and great ambiance (gorgeous sea views!). Now, if you've visited all-inclusive resorts in touristy areas before, you may be familiar with having to line up at 8am to make dinner reservations, or risk eating at the same mediocre buffet for the fourth day in a row. You won't have that problem here, but pay attention! Oasis Hotels bought out what used to be two separate properties- The Grand and The Pyramid and combined them into one. Make sure to book The Pyramid at Grand Oasis (and not just the Grand Oasis), because you will get a different colored wristband that allows you access into exclusive restaurants. Because there are less people who book The Pyramid (as it is more expensive, but well worth it!) there are no lines and no reservations required. Just be sure to check which restaurants are exclusive and frequent those, as the Grand Oasis options aren't nearly as good and often have long lines. Definitely eat at Market Place for breakfast (the least crowded of the buffets by far and with more choices and a better view). For dinner, eat at Carayes Seafood at least once! 
 3. The rooms: While you MUST book The Pyramid for access to a more exclusive experience, we don't actually recommend staying in the Pyramid. The Pyramid building (although with newer renovated rooms) is towards the back of the property and doesn't have any ocean front rooms. So we recommend booking a Pyramid Oceanfront room (not the same as 'Sea View"), which is actually housed in the Grand Oasis building (confusing, we know!). These rooms have incredible balconies directly overlooking the ocean and are phenomenal. If you are traveling with a family, we reccomend spending a little more to upgrade to the Pyramid Suite which are on the top two floors, as it is more spacious with two rooms, and two balconies each overlooking the ocean.  4. Peacocks! How can you resist a property that has roaming peacocks throughout the property? While you are eating in a restaurant or lounging by the pool, peacocks will suddenly surprise you at your feet. Need we say more?  5. Loungers, daybeds and pools! While the Grand Oasis boasts the longest pool in Cancun (1/4 mile!), there is also a separate pool for those staying in The Pyramid. It is much smaller, but the plus is that it is surrounded with beautiful cabanas and daybeds available only to Pyramid guests, so no more waking up a the crack of dawn to reserve a cabana with your towel. Many all-inclusives in Cancun charge extra to use beach and pool cabanas and loungers, but we loved that at the Pyramid they are truly all-inclusive and free for guests.  If you still aren't convinced that this is the spot to be, The Pyramid also has nightly shows akin to Cirque Du Soleil, held in their giant Pyramid amphitheater. They also have ae robust gym full of all thee equipment you need, hammocks throughout the garden, and other entertainment such as tennis courts and golf. See you in Mexico! 
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 We spent an unforgettable spring break in Zion National Park, Utah (where we learned the correct pronunciation rhymes with 'lion' and not 'lie on' like we had been saying lol). The two most iconic hikes of Zion are Angels Landing (too dangerous for children!) and The Narrows, which despite what others may tell you, is definitely doable with kids! Follow this plan and you'll be on your way to making fantastic, Insta-worthy memories. 1. Get There and Book Accommodation: The closest airport to Zion is McCarran International Airport of Las Vegas. So fly into Vegas, rent a car and drive to Springdale, UT (a little over 2 hours). Springdale is right at the foot of Zion and has many campgrounds, "glamp-grounds", and hotels, so you’ll have lots of options for where and how to stay.  2. Shuttle Tickets: At exactly 5:00pm, shuttle tickets for the following day are released. NOTE: If you do not get shuttle tickets, you can’t go! The tickets are highly competitive to score and on most days will be completely sold out by 5:01pm. So be ready, signed in to an account and refreshing the page at 4:59pm. We had 5 devices trying at once and one of them got through for tickets on the second day of trying. If you try every day of your trip and still aren't lucky enough to get tickets, you can always show up to the Visitor Center the day of and enter the standby line, for a chance to get on the last shuttle of the day at 2pm. However, the line is known to already be a few hundred people long by noon, so be prepared to wait if you choose this option.  3. Check Conditions: On the morning of, be sure to check the weather for any signs of flashfloods (!). During a flash flood, water walls 12 feet high or more can rush down the canyon and because there are steep cliffs on either side, it can be fatal as there is no way to climb to higher ground. Yes, people have died on this hike. Often times, flashfloods can be caused by storms miles away, while the weather overhead looks clear, so it's imperative to check the weather within a 30 mile radius of the park. If the weather looks good all around, you then need to check the water level of the river. This is especially important if you have children doing this hike. (Remember, what may be waist-deep water for you, will be chest-deep water for them!) The ideal height for this hike is anything flowing below 50 cfs (cubic feet per second). If it is at 50 or below, a child age 5-8 will have no problem doing this hike. If you have a child younger than 5, use your discretion. You might need to carry them in a carrier, unless they are advanced hikers and know how to swim.  4. Find Parking! If all the stars have aligned for you, you will still need to find parking at the Visitor’s Center. By 11:00am, this parking lot will fill up, so beware! If you don't find a lucky spot, you will need to look for (paid) parking back in the city of Springdale and take the free shuttle to the Visitor Center. NOTE: This is not the same shuttle that you have tickets for. If you are staying at a hotel in Springdale with parking, it might be a better idea to just leave your car there and take the shuttle to begin with, especially if you are staying at one of the hotels which has a shuttle stop in front.   5. Get Your Gear: You will need to rent gear from Zion Outfitter, located next to the Visitor's Center. They rent water proof pants, socks and shoes and special canyoneering hiking sticks. The water is COLD and the hike is hard so you will need this special gear. The package costs $55 per person per day to rent. Those who didn’t have gear didn’t make it very far into the river or in at all. Trust us, do not attempt this hike without renting the proper gear. 6. Ready to go: Once in your gear, walk to the Visitor's Center and show your QR code to board the shuttle into Zion at your designated time. You will need to pay an entrance fee to enter the park which is $20 per person. Ride the shuttle all the way up the canyon to the very last stop (stop number 9 also called "Temple of Sinawava"). This will be your last place to use the bathroom, so take advantage. From there, follow the paved pathway for about one mile to get to the Narrows entrance. When the river walk dead ends, it's time to descend the stairs, enter the water and let the true adventure begin. This is also the perfect place and time for a picnic lunch to give you energy for your journey ahead. You don't want to risk having soggy sandwiches, should you lose your footing accidentally and fall in (which you will, at least once), so eat before you enter the river. The entire Narrows hike is 8 miles up the river (and then you must come down!), but the sweeping views start almost immediately, so don't worry if you don't go all the way up, we'll never tell 😉. In fact, we only hiked about 2 miles total in the water and it was more than enough for the gorgeous views and fun experience. What to do on the days you don't have shuttle tickets: Without shuttle tickets, you can still explore the East end of Zion, which is open to car traffic. The highlight of the East side is the one mile long Zion Mount Carmel tunnel, which was blasted straight through the sandstone cliffs, and includes fun peepholes throughout to look out at the valley down below as you drive through. Be sure to stop along the pullouts for some gorgeous photos amongst red rock cliffs as you meander your way up to the tunnel.   Immediately to your right as you exit the tunnel (drive slow as you near the end so you won't miss it!) is the parking lot for perhaps one of the most picturesque hikes in all of Zion. It is a very short (1/2 mile hike) to the Canyon Overlook. However, the parking lot is tiny (only a dozen spots), so it will take a certain amount of luck to do this hike. If you can't get a parking spot, keep driving and there are plenty of places where you can pull over and do an impromptu day hike. There aren't officially marked trails in this area, so people just stroll along the rocks and river beds at the sides of the road. Keep your eye out for the big horned sheep that roam this area frequently! Finally, be sure to pack lots of water and food because traffic builds up to get back through the tunnel in the afternoon and you might be stuck there for awhile. Have you ever hiked The Narrows? Let us know how it went and if you have other tips!
We recently got a brand new 2020 Mercedes SUV! But, we assure you, this isn't a humble brag post. Afterwards, we went online to set up autopay and were pleasantly surprised to see that Mercedes now allows payments to be made via credit card. Traditionally, it is very hard to earn credit card points from some of the biggest monthly expenses (mortgage, rent and car payments) because it requires you to pay using Plastiq a company that charges a 2.5% fee (rarely worth it, unless you are in a bind to meet a minimum spend). However, Mercedes uses Repay which only charges a flat fee of $4.95 per payment. Is the $5 monthly fee worth it?Let's pretend your monthly car payment is $500. Set up autopay for it using your Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card which earns you 1.5 points per dollar spent. So each month you will earn 750 points for your car payment. These points are worth $7.50, so you are already ahead with an extra $2.50 more than the fee you paid to use credit card. Next, transfer these 750 points accumulated each month to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeem them for another 1.5 times on travel. This means that now they are worth over 1000 points in travel which is a little more than $10. So if you subtract the $5 fee from the $10 you gain each month, you end up actually making $5 net profit on each monthly car payment. How can I set it up? If you have a Mercedes, and want to collect on this hack, follow these steps: 1. Go to Mercedes Financial Services 2. Login 3. Select your vehicle 4. Click Make a payment
5. Click Visit Repay 6. Click Guest Account Lookup to bring up your account 7. Enter your credit card info We only know Mercedes to be using Repay services right now, but if you don't have a Mercedes, try it out on your car payment and let us know in the comments if you find any other companies who also have this option! |
