This was our 5th trip to the Presidente in the last 3 years and we love it more and more each time. The staff couldn't be any nicer. We got our diving certification with Scuba Du 3 years ago (the dive sompany located on the property) and we highly recommend Scuba Du. Victor and his helper take care of all of your gear every day. You simply walk to the boat in the morning and most days your equipment is already on the boat and set up. All you do is check everything. Then after you are done diving for the day, you put your equipment in a bag and Vicor and the gang rinse everything, and have it ready for the morning. Truly worth a great tip! The divemasters are great. If they ask you what dive spot you want to go to tell them Punta Tunich! But, then again, all the dives are beautiful.
The Presidente is expensive (I need to work OT for us to go back)! We have been tempted to try out other cheaper places but we just think the service we receive at the Presidente is high quality. There are many other hotel/dive resorts that are all inclusive for much less money, but it's hard for us to give up the gorgeous beach and clean big beautiful rooms. There are 2 nice sized pools on the property. The pool that is further away from the restaurant usually doesn't even have any guests at the pool! Although, if any guest is at that 2nd pool, there will be someone there to wait on you...drinks, food, etc.
WORD OF WARNING>>>>> WHEN YOU ARE CHECKING IN AVOID THE PEOPLE WHO COME OVER TO YOU AT THE LOBBY!!!!!!! They are trying to sell you a time share. Take their bottle of cold water and tell them to stay away that you are not interested! They will waste HOURS of your time!!!! It's sooo obnoxious!
Also, if you have never been to Cozumel, you need to know that when you arrive and are looking for a taxi to your hotel, IGNORE those crazy peolple trying to get you a cab. They are also trying to sell you a timeshare. Simply walk to the right to the "taxi" booth located in the airport (once you go through customs) and buy your taxi fare. YOu can but it with american dollars. Exit the airport and board a van to go to your hotel. This is the only way to go. Single car taxis are not allowed to take you to your hotel. They can take you back to the airport for your departure.
Please email me if I can help you in any way. I am more than willing to help!

We spent 4 nights at this incredible hotel in mid Feb 2008. We have stayed in many hotels around the world and this was amongst the very best.

We booked an Ocean Suite room which came with one of the most spectacular bathrooms we had ever seen. Huge tub set in front of a picture window overlooking the ocean, giant walkin shower, double vanity and marble and fresh flowers everywhere.

The staff were incredibly attentive and helpful, and the food was very good (esp the FANTASTIC buffet breakfast!).

We also visited the Spa which was also excellent, extremely well run and even more relaxing than expected. We were really spolt by the service provided...just amazing

The hotel has two beaches and some excellent snorkelling literally off the shores right there. We also enjoyed nice touches like hammocks for gentle snoozing in the sun or the adult pool which was a tranquil, kid free, space to escape and really enjoy the sun.

Overall this was an amazingly good experience and a hotel that we would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for a good, high-end, escape in the sun.

Feb 6th-12th 2008

My wife and I were looking for a place to really relax and to spend her 40th birthday away from all of the craziness from home. This place is a wonderful place to unwind and relax, the resort is very well maintained and the entire staff were very friendly, most of them do speak english, language barrier is not a problem at the resort or most other places on the island.

I do recommend getting a room over looking the ocean, there is something to be said about relaxing on your balcony and staring at the sea. The food in the resort is just okay, not too many choices and not too cheap, Alfredos restaurant is very nice and our dinner was very good.

Snorkeling was good, right in front of the resort, if you have your own equipment, do bring it along, $10 a day to rent from the resort.

The mosquitos were not too bad, but do bring bug spray with you.

If I ever go back to Cozumel, I would probably say at the Presidente again......It was wonderful.......Enjoy

L&L Washington DC area.

We stayed at the Presidente for the second week of our honeymoon from the end of January to the beginning of February 2008. We had just come from a wonderful, relaxing week at a great hotel on Isla Mujeres and had high expectations for the Presidente based on the reviews that we read on Trip Advisor. There were some nice aspects of the hotel, but also some disappointments. I would not go back.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were given a beautiful room located right on the beach. We were thrilled, except when we stepped into the room, it smelled very strongly of mildew and was damp. I am very used to traveling in hot and humid locales having family from Central America and spending time in Africa and have never encountered this problem at a hotel. We tried to stick it out, but after several hours in the room, we were both sneezing and did not like the damp feeling of our sheets. We asked to change rooms and our request was granted without a problem. The second room was on the complete other side of the hotel. It was slightly better, but still smelled musty and was damp. We decided to just deal with it, but it was definitely annoying enough that we tried to spend as little time as possible in our room.

The beach was definitely the best part of the hotel. The beach area is huge with great snorkeling. It was great to be able to walk out of our rooms and directly onto the beach. The pool was nice enough. Pool and beachside service was not always consistent.

Beware of the annoying lady in the lobby who invites you to a free breakfast supposedly for the year anniversary of the hotel being open since Hurricane Wilma. She is really trying to recruit for a timeshare event. I did not really want to be in the lobby because I knew that she was going to start talking to me. My husband and I were annoyed that a 500 dollar a night hotel has someone bothering guests and peddling timeshares, but pretending not to be.

The hotel has a lot of extra added taxes. I read that these are taxes that are mandated by the government, but you should know that they will add around 100 dollars to your per night charge. We booked through the hotel. They quoted us a rate in US dollars. While we were there, our rate increased which the staff stated was explained by the fluctuating exchange rate between the dollar and the peso. This seemed strange. We felt as if we should have been locked into one rate and in pesos. I wonder if we would have had a dramatically lower rate if the peso suddenly lost value. I do not think that they would have lowered our room rate to accomodate the change between the peso and the dollar.

All the extra costs (cover charge at the restaurant and bars, raise in room rate depending on peso to dollar exchange rate) made us feel as if we were being a little bit taken. I don't mind spending money for a nice hotel room and I expect things to be expensive at this kind of resort. But, at the Presidente, it definitely seemed excessive for the product. At the restaurant, you are charged a cover rate of a dollar or two, even at the beach bar. The hotel does not seem to provide this service charge to their staff as they all expected tips.

We mostly ate dinner in town. We went several nights to a great Mexican restaurant La Choza. We also ate a HUGE lobster at La Casa del Pescador (Lobster House) which is a must if you are visiting the island. The enormous lobster dinner was around 80 dollars with tip. In the US, this would have been a dinner over 200 dollars. Another highlight was taking a snorkeling trip through Studio Blue diving shop located in town and across from La Choza restaurant. The diving shop's owner, Miguel, is friendly and helpful. We went on a four hour snorkel tour to three different reefs. It was really fun and we saw lots of fish. We also went to Chankanaab National Park for sunbathing and snorkeling. This was fun too, but arrive early because there are lots of cruise ship people in the afternoon.

So, I would definitely return to Cozumel, but I just did not feel that our stay at the Presidente was worth 500 dollars a night.