This hotel was so wonderful. The staff, the rooms, and the beach couldn't have been any better. I got married at the hotel outside on the beach. It was so beautiful. Martha the wedding coordinator is very helpful and sweet. The photographer Gabriel is great and I would also recommend getting a DVD of your wedding. The food was okay at the hotel. Drinks are strong!!! The diving facility Scuba Du is okay. I am a new diver and the first 3 BC's I used had leaks. I received a new one on the fourth try. Hose is the best dive master they have. He stayed with me the entire dive. I saw a shark on my first dive. Awesome!!!! Rent a scooter while you are there on the island. This is the main mode of transportation. The east side of the island is beautiful also. The people on the island are so friendly. Much nicer than Americans. Please tip hotel staff, housekeeping, and waiters if they do a good job. The people in Cozumel work so hard and get paid so little. I would strongly recommend visiting Cozumel and staying at this wonderful hotel.

My husband an I just got home from a trip to Cozumel on June 2. We were a bit unsure what to expect due to negative reviews we had read. We decided just to make the best of it. When we arrived at the Cozumel airport, we were thrilled to see the very short lines through customs. We have been to Cancun a few times and the lines at the airport take forever. When we got outside, our shuttle to the resort was waiting. Fortunately, there were only 4 of us in the van, so we did not stop at any other resorts. Like many others, the hotel offered us an upgrade when we checked in. We declined. When we arrived in our room, it was very large and under decorated, but we didn't have a problem with it. As the day progressed, we discovered our airconditioner did not work well at all. We told the front desk when we headed into town for dinner. They told us they were full, but should have something for us by the next day. We went on an excursion the next day and when we returned, we had a message from the front desk that our new room was ready. They sent a bellman (all of them are excellent at their jobs) to take our luggage over.
When we stepped into our new, much cooler, room we were shocked at the difference in the two rooms. This one was top of the line. Furnished very nicely, and had a wonderful bathroom. This was an upgraded room, but they did not charge us for the upgrade. We had friends in the resort with us. Their room was just great from the start. So, I would recommend you look in on the room you are given before you say yes or no to the upgrade. It would have been worth the charge for the upgrade if they had charged us.
The entire facility is wonderful. Very clean, and they service the rooms several times a day. They leave fresh flowers in the morning, and take them out at evening. The pool has many chairs for sunning. Don't be fooled by the towels in the chairs, they are not to reserve the chairs for other guests, they are placed there every morning by the pool attendant. If you don't see something that belongs to another guest, the chair is probably free. Personally, I don't see a need for the pool. The beach is beautiful and they have an abundance of chairs and palapas available. There are three sections of beach. One is just like a swimming pool and you can walk in barefoot. The other two require some kind of sandal or beach shoe. I found out the hard way when I stepped on an urchen. It hurt and 3 pieces broke off in my foot. The lifeguard took care of it really quickly. Not much to do for it. A little vinegar and warm water. The spines absorb into your body. I had no soreness after about 20 minutes.
I highly recommend eating at The Mission in town. It is an old house and has a beautiful ambience. Our cab driver told us about it. There is another one in town, but go to the one in the old house. They have anything from pasta, to seafood, to steaks. They also have wild animals in the back garden.
We had the breakfast buffet included in our resort package. It was wonderful. We ate lunch at the resort everyday. The prices are not bad at all. My husband and I tend to share meals to prevent over-eating. So it was especially reasonable for us. Cozumel is beautiful and the Presidente is fabulous. I highly recommend it, and plan to go there again some day.

I initially picked the Presidente based upon the good reviews written on TripAdvisor. Well, all the good things written about the resort were true. We just got back from staying six days at the Presidente. We were greeted upon arrival with champaign. When we were checking in they asked us if we wanted to purchase an upgrade for our room. I had booked a garden room. I declined the upgrade, but they gave me one anyway. We ended up with a beautiful ocean view on the 4th floor. The room had great air conditioning and excellent water pressure. The only negative I have about the resort is that water in the bathroom is not purified. They give you a large bottle of water a day, but I still felt like I needed more. The food was good and priced about the same as any other resort. The drinks were a little pricey, but the margaritas were very powerful. I recommend going to the grocery store in town and buying beer. A six pack will cost you $4. A beer at the Presidente cost $4. The beach was great. Even though the resort was almost full, it seemed like my husband and I had the beach to ourselves the first couple of days. It got a little more crowded by the weekend. The water is absolutely beautiful. The snorkling was great. We only snorkled at the resort, but that was fine. We saw tons of fish. A taxi ride to town costs about $5. We never had any problem with the taxis. Don't rent a car. A car is just a hassle and costs a lot of money. The resort is great, but don't expect 5 star luxury. I stayed at a 4 star resort in Hawaii and the Presidente was a lot better.

We just returned from a wonderful stay in Cozumel. We have been to the island many times since the early 90’s each time staying in a different hotel. During previous visits we have stayed at the Barracuda, Casa Del Mar, Fiesta Americana, and the Melia (the rest of this hotel's name has changed several times over the years). This trip we decided to pull out all of the stops and booked the El Presidente Inter-continental.

I read the reviews on this board and others and was disappointed to see the complaints. I’ve decided that they are more a result of expectations that a reflections of the facilities and service. Unless money becomes an issue, we will never stay anywhere else.

Check-in - It was great. The trip from the airport was about fifteen minutes. We arrived at the hotel around 11:00 AM, much earlier than in the past. We were politely offered the opportunity to upgrade which we had already agreed not to accept. We wanted to see what the lower end was like. Because we wanted a king sized bed, we had to wait 30 minutes for a room to be ready. Remember this was 11:00AM. We were in the room at 11:30. We were offered a Champaign welcome which we didn’t drink because we were ready to do a quick beach dive.

Accommodations – I’ve heard people complaining about the hotel’s rating. “It’s not five stars!” This is Cozumel; somewhat primitive by US standards. I would venture to say that any additional amenities would be hard to maintain under the circumstances. Our gardenview room was very nice, and the hard bed… yes it was hard… kept my back from being sore. I’m told that you can request padding to soften it up. The support was great. Otherwise the room was very nice; huge superior towels, decorative flowers, soaps, etc., mini-bar (I stay out of those), cable TV and patio. The room was quiet. The AC was quiet and I had to turn the digital thermostat down. Room service is available 24 hour. I heard it was superb. We only ordered coffee in the mornings before going to the breakfast buffet.

Restaurant & Bar – Excellent Our breakfast was included in the package. We had lunch around the pool, which was relaxing. The restaurant can get expensive, but there are more economical selections on the menu. We ate dinner one night in the hotel. It was excellent. We have always enjoyed going to town, but after this trip we have decided to eat at the hotel. HAPPY HOUR IS GREAT; the usual two for one, including guacamole and chips.

Diving - While we were waiting for the room, we visited the on premises dive shop, ScubaDu. Everyone was very nice and the registration and scheduling process was without any problems. A pleasant surprise was the equipment storage arrangement. I took my equipment bags out to the dive shop where a couple of men help me unload the gear. For a gratuity, they took care of our gear the entire trip. They delivered everything to the dive boat. Picked it up when you were done. Inventoried and rinsed the gear for the next dive. If you wanted to go on a shore dive, they got everything together, including the tank and weights. This was a great service that made the vacation extra enjoyable. We have been used to a small dive shop so ScubaDu’s program was a little more regimented that we like. The dive masters were very professional, thorough and safe. They were very patient and able to assist the newer divers. Maximum depth was 80 ft. Even though the best sights are really above 80 ft., being an experienced diver, I like to go deeper from time to time. I didn’t let this impact my enjoyment. They have a set schedule for the sights they dive which can be viewed on their website. Surface intervals were on board while moving to the next sight. Special dives are available. They did a good job. All in all ScubaDu was a good choice and very convenient.

You need to make sure Cozumel is the right place for your vacation. The diving is some of the best in the world. If you’re looking for miles and miles of white sandy beaches, you might want to select another destination. There are plenty of activities to keep you busy. Cozumel has great restaurants and several night spots including the famed Carlos and Charlie’s. The people in Cozumel are wonderful, and I have always felt safe whether in a taxi or walking the streets. You can rent a car and a scooter. I would personally stay away from the latter.

We can’t wait to get back to Cozumel and The El Presidente. With Cozumel being just a two hour flight from Houston it's hard to go anywhere else.