We just returned from one week at El Presidente, from 12/26 to 1/2. I have lots to say (all positive) and may break it down into a couple of posts.

This was our first time in Cozumel, but we've been coming down to Mexico for about 20 years - Manzanillo (Las Hadas), Puerty Vallarta (Camino Real), Guadalajara (El Tapatio), and a number of locations in Cancun. But for the overall experience, nothing can beat Cozumel and El Presidente. It was my wife and I in one room, and my son and his steady girl in the other.

We had arranged for the hotel to send a car to pick us up at the airport, and after fighting our way through the aggressive salespeople for El Cid (a all-inclusive resort in Cozumel), we found our driver. Note that the El Cid people apparently have exclusive rights to the INSIDE of the airport lobby, leaving legitamate taxis and pre-arranged drivers outside.

The location is terrific - just a few minutes from the Cozumel town of San Miguel, and even closer to Chankanaab (the combination reef/amusement park).

We rented a car (at the hotel) right off the bat. I wandered down to the lobby our first morning there, and was gently approached by a nice gentleman. I told him I was looking for a good price on a rental car, and he suggested that if my wife and myself would take about 90 minutes to hear about Club Presidente (essentially pre-buying hotel rooms), he could get me a car for $20 a day for three days. Inasmuch as the lowest available rate at the hotel was $60 a day, that sounded like a good investment. And we thought it wouldn't hurt to have a guided tour of the grounds (plus free breakfast) to start off our vacation. And the end, we decided NOT to particpate in Club Presidente (although the financial aspects are attractive), but we took our vouchers and got the car: $20 a day, as promised, but we had to decide on insurance (I got the max). We used the car to explore the island, drive to the various small "ruins" (nothing like we saw on the mainland, but interesting nonetheless), spend some time on the Wild Side of the island (the East side), and getting to know downtown. At the end of three days, we turned the car in, and used the inexpensive local taxis for the remainder of our stay (mostly getting into San Miguel for shopping and restaurants).

Our rooms were adjacent on the far southern end of the property, ground floor opening right out onto the beach. We had made our reservation on Travelocity for the deluxe room (which probably would have been on the second floor, facing the beach). But after contacting the hotel by e-mail (easy to do from their website, and very informative), I learned that by joining the Ambassador Club for $150, I would get a free upgrade to the beach front ground floor rooms (along with a free night coupon for a future stay). Seemed like a good deal, and it was. Our rooms were wonderful, especially the family of IGUANAS that lived under the step on our little porch on the beach side. We fed them every morning with some of the fruit provided by the maids. They (the iguanas) particularly like Grapes!

So do what you can to get the beach front rooms - it is amazing to walk out your door right onto that beautiful beach!

The Italian restaurant (Alfredo's) is apparently the work of the guy who invented (if that's the right verb) Fetucinni Alfredo. It looks like there are other restaurants owned by the same guy throughout Mexico, mostly at Presidente InterContinental hotels. The food was terrific, but watch out for the wine list - the prices are astronomical. Suffice it to say that one doesn't travel to Mexico for a good Medoc. But there are a number of local (Mexican) wines that are very good, and reasonably priced.

The other restaurant (Caribeno) is open-air, with a very good buffet breakfast for about 185 pesos (maybe $17 USD). We also had dinner there a couple times. And most of those same items are available on the extensive room service menu.

All the waiters (and all the hotel staff for that matter), are polite, efficient and very eager to help. Most speak very good English, and they are VERY polite with numb-nuts like me to try out our mangled Spanish on them . . .

I tried out the new Spa a couple times. A deep tissue massage is one of the things I treat myself to only on vacation, and the staff was great. And when we were there, a one-hour massage was $75 (very reasonably priced), with a 20% discount for cash. But your massage therapist is the one who bears the burden of that discount (not the hotel), so you might want to make up some of the difference with your tip. And give a CASH tip, not a room charge tip, if you can. That way the therapist gets it all, without the hotel taking a cut (the same applies, by the way, to tips for waiters).

The kids tried the pool a number of times, along with freguent rentals of the Wave Runners. A little pricy, but they had a ball! Good snorkling right off the hotel beach, but you'll want to go out on the "Snorkle Adventure" with the on-site water sports group (Scuba Du). It was a five-hour ride to a reef down at the southern tip of the island, plus the Palancar horseshoe with a stop VERY close to the hotel itself. Amazing sea turtles, sea snakes and a tremendous variety of fish. We didn't dive this trip, but we will when we go back.

I'll talk about the other aspects of the island (Chankanaab, Downtown, etc.) in other posts.

Feel free to contact me direclty with questions.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Presidente with our two teenage boys for 2 days, Dec 23-25. Upgraded to beachfront rooms for $40 a day, These first floor rooms are accessible right to the beach. WOW, It was worth it!!! My sons thought this hotel was better that the JW Marriott in Cancun, because of the "private" beach with cornstarch white sand, and incredible snorkeling, with awesome fish. The hotel is dated, but the rooms are large, and functional for divers and snorkelers. I had a massage at the outdoor "pavillion." Was quite nice. Their new Serenity Spa is scheduled to open next week. I got an unofficial tour of the new spa. It will add a bit of luxury to this hotel. I thought the food at the outdoor restaurant was quite good, we ordered a whole fried fish grouper. We ate at Alfredos, for the special Christmas dinner, it was pricey, and "OK." Should have just had Fettucini. The restaurent looked new, and elegant. Wish we had stayed here an extra day!

We stayed five days at the Presidente just before Christmas, and I was quite impressed. The hotel is a little dated and the food isn't that great, but I was floored by the incredible snorkeling right along the shore. That's why we went, the snorkeling and the diving, and both exceeded my wildest expectations.

Even though the property is a little dated, it is very well maintained, with attractive landscaping, a lovely heated pool, and clean attractive rooms. Everyone was quite friendly, from the front desk to the dive shop people to the gardeners. There is an excellent gym as well as tennis. I guess that the majority of people there were divers, and there were many families too. Our college age son found enough other kids his age to hang around with.

My sole problem was that the food at the single restaurant wasn't that good and was rather expensive. We ate twice at the Italian restaurant as a result, and found that excellent, much better than the other. The breakfast buffet was limited and started at 140 pesos. I got charged every day for the larger buffet that included eggs and everything and every day had to have the bill changed to the continental buffet.

The dive shop, ScubaDu, took us diving to Palancar in the mornings and Paradise (just a few yards off the shore) and Chankanaab Reefs in the afternoon. Excellent facilities and rental equipment and leaders. On one dive with Lucio on Chankanaab we saw a half dozen of the unbelievable rare Cozumel splendid toadfish. Lucio clearly loves what he does.

What I was most impressed with was the snorkleing right along the "beach". The hotel owns about a quarter mile of shore, but the shore is all ancient reef rather than sandy beach. They imported sand to make a "beach", but it is contained by a curb along the seawall. There are two breaks where you can enter the water, and there are four ladders that drop you into the water. There is hard and soft coral in excellent condition right from the shore, as well as huge numbers of fish. There is the densest cluster of sea fans along the north shore I have ever seen. And all you have to do is grab a mask and hop in the water. I felt sorry for the people who stay in town to save a few bucks, because they miss that free shore snorkeling.

We took a taxi into town (less than $6) a few times to eat and to shop and to look around. But there's little to shop for and little of interest in town. I loved Cozumel as well as the location of the Presidente, and we'll definitely return.

My husband and I spent 8 glorious nights at the El Presidente (Dec 11-19). Because it was a quiet week we were upgraded to a 2nd floor oceanfront room (5207). The balcony opened out onto a beautiful view of the beach and ocean and we could hear the waves crashing at night. The room was simple but spacious. Ask for a pillow top for the bed - it makes it much more comfortable. As the previous reviews have said the shower/toilet room were basic but not that big a deal for us. The housekeeping staff kept the room beautifully and always made cute animals out of the towels.

If you are expecting a 5 star hotel such as the Ritz you may be dissapointed. But the staff is what made the resort stand above other resorts we have stayed at- they were so warm and helpful and they truly made us feel at home. The breakfast buffet is excellent! For the other meals we enjoyed going into town - enjoyed Las Especias and La Choza. We found plenty to do at the resort - snorkeling, diving, eating, relaxing under the palapas. We cannot wait to return. We have traveled to many places around the world and found the people on this island some of the friendliest we have met.

Please email me should you have any questions.