Just got back from staying 4 days/3 nights at the Allegro/Holiday Village. This was our first all inclusive resort stay so we didn't really know what to expect. While our stay was brief, it was definitely long enough at this facility. We were just a couple trying to get a little rest and relaxation with no responsibilities other than the walk to the beach. Ended up feeling a bit overwhelmed by the British charters and contracted entertainment programs. They would blare the song Chocolate (Choco Choco) too many times a day for our taste and the nightly entertainment was so loud there was no escape from it.

We booked the "Allegro" online through American Express Travel only to find out the resort is really named Holiday Village White Sands and that it was a repackaged Travelocity bundle. Started out feeling like a little bit of bait and switch.

We also elected to use Olympus Tours to coordinate our ground transportation from the airport to the resort. All they do is pay a taxi to take you back and forth. At $37 USD/person round trip, this may have been a bit higher than just grabbing a taxi yourself and paying the driver directly - we have no firsthand comparison but heard taxi to town was $12-14.

Pros: Great sandy beach and area to snorkel; nice spots to scuba dive are only a short boat ride away (2-15 minutes); great for large groups and families; decent value - lower costs of this resort can allow for renting a jeep to tour the other parts of the island and multiple diving trips. [Rent from Executive across the street. They quote you a price $55/day, we got it for $50/day, tax and insurance is extra.]

Cons: No integration of regional architecture/lack of authenticity at the resort - could be anywhere; Many of the clean plates still had food residue on them; Drinks are mostly rum based and weak; Corona is the only beer served; beds are very firm to hard; walls are thin; British entertainment/vacation club is a little overwhelming for an unassociated traveler when British holiday is at prime; required to wear a unremovable wristband; grounds and landscaping are straightforward and unimaginative; geared heavily toward families from UK; walking is not an option for doing things outside the resort - taxi or rented car only way to cover distance from town.

Stay if you are budget minded, are traveling with a group/family, or just want little to no responsibilities for a couple of days.

Don't stay if you want regional authenticity or a quiet romantic getaway.

This was our fourth trip to Cozumel and the second time staying at the Allegro. They have made may improvement since are last trip. Thank you to the managment a staff
( Gabriel, Armondo, Angel and Crystal) who made our vacation even more pleasant.
The room was average (hard beds) but kept very clean and our housekeeper left cute little towel animals on our bed every day
The Food was also average ( bland ). some days better than other. (please remember that they have to feed so many different tastes.)
The beach was awesome! snorkeling, sailing beautiful sand and not rocky walking out to the water.
The diving with Dive Palancar was also great! If you have never been diving before, take the resort course and try it!
I would like it if they would provide a few more planned activities for adults and teens they had alot going on for 10 and under.
Make sure that you rent a jeep for one day and go to the other side of the island. (take cash because the don't take credit cards, no phone lines.
We meet a lot of really nice people from all over. Scotland, Maryland, San Antonio, Tennesse and England Very friendly people.
Hope they had a great time too!!!! ---- we'll be back

My daughter and I spent 2 weeks at the Holiday Village from 20 June. Loved the hotel, clean and very well kept. The rooms were cleaned daily and the towel arrangements always provided a laugh. When it rained (and believe me it did) we had to position a bucket under the thatched roof or risk slipping on the water. We coped with the rain, it is after all a tropical climate and so to be expected.
Food was excellent. always plenty to choose from and never once had a bad meal. The air conditioned section of the buffet restaurant is the best place to eat.
Facilities were good. Three good sized pools that were kept clean and tidy. Nothing of ours turned a funny colour but the bleached blondes did turn a shade of green. The beach was amazing, loads of sunbeds and water sports always available. Yet again the stupidity of hogging sun beds by the pool was in evidence. Towels literally left for hours on unoccupied sun beds or worse sunbeds for toddlers. Why I ask myself is that necessary?
Simon and Chantelle were most approachable and helped us with any queries. The kids entertainment seemed well received. My daughter is 19 so I can only comment on what appeared to be loads of activity going on and not first hand . The hotel staff were fantastic, nothing too much trouble.

But there are negatives to thius place and the worse thing was the evening entertainment. Frankly at times it was worse than amateur. Thankfully we made some good friends and enjoyed each others company. Swimming fully clothed in the pool on our penultimate night was a wonderful experience.
Mosquito's - ok we were warned but my god how many were there.
Isolation - nothing outside the hotel grounds but jungle.
Humidity - at times it got too much.

On the whole a good holiday and for kids I would say it was purpose built. Becki made friends with the reps so that helped her rather than being stuck wit her mum all the time.

We have just returned from Cozumel, stayed for two weeks at the HVWS/Allegro and booked with First Choice.

Hotel - The hotel was great value, nice room, a little small but adequate enough. The food was good, enough variety for everyone. The two restaurants - oriental and Mexican were ok, however preffered the buffet. The grounds were nice, lots of iguanas, crabs and frogs around. Do not go in the pool unless you want to turn yellow! And do not use the jacuzzi, unless you want to be covered in blue paint!! They have blamed this on the English sunscreen which we think is a load of ****!!! The jacuzzi problem - blue gloss paint on the ceramic tiles, which with the heat comes off on everyone's clothes. First Choice were awful with sorting this issue out, just to warn you before you go - don't expect FC to help. So many people filled in complaint forms but nothing was done about them.

Beach - the beach was lovely. white sand, clear water and very quiet.

Weather - the weather was HOT! High 30s every day, odd showers. We had two showers overnight and one during the day. It does cool things down a lot.

Excursions - the excursions are expensive here. We booked the Whale Shark tour ($260 pp) and the Dolphin Adventure at Chankanab ($100 pp) and then we hired a jeep for the day for $44 and toured the island. We booked the excursions through First Choice, however transport isn't included on these trips. Any mainland excursions (Xcarat/Xelha/Whale Sharks etc) you need to arrange and pay for taxi/ferry.

Hire Car - We hired our jeep through Executive (opp hotel). We paid $44 for the day, First Choice were charging $140. See Martin or any of the other guys at the little desk outside reception. They offer excursions and cars for a little bit less. Only reason we got our jeep so cheap was because we went to a meeting at the hotel next door - a timeshares meeting. We spent two hours there with lunch with them trying to sell us timeshares. Just a purseusive NO! and they just let you go, get the jeep cheap and off you go. Didn't bother us as we saved a lot on the jeep.

Cozumel - the island is lovely, we went to the lighthouse by jeep which was great, we spent $10 each which was cheap for everything included - visit lagoons with crocodiles, museum, lighthouse, snorkelling etc. We then drove further round and visited San Gervasio ruins but it was a very hot day and dry heat as we weren't near the coast. The ruins cost $7 each. I'd recommend you do this yourself as FC were charging at least double to do this. Pop into the bar by the entrance to the lighthouse, it's like a reggae bar, really nice to have a drink, walk along the beach and you can see the blowholes.

Money - we were told to take Paesos but ended up taking half paseos and half dollars. We took £800 with us - £400 in each currency. I'd recommend you just take dollars. Everywhere takes dollars and all the excursions are in dollars. It just ends up getting changed back up at a higher rate and you end up loosing money so stick with the dollars. the £800 got us to do the two excursions, hire a jeep and buy a few gifts. There were two of us.

Departure Tax - we were told this was $25 - it isn't. It is $52 each and is paid on the way out. The reps didn't explain we needed this first before we checked in, so everyone ended up running around swapping queues.

Snorkelling - we weren't overally impressed with the marine life, compared with the Red Sea. The coral looked quite dead in places. The best place we went was Punta Sur (from the lighthouse) It's a long snorkel out but we saw sea turtles, starfish, puffa fish and loads of others.

Overall - a beautiful place, great for families, couples and groups. We would definatly come back, not to this resort but to another island nearby,

Any questions about anything - just send me a message.