My hubby and I just returned from a weeklong vacation here and really enjoyed it. (We were here February 26-March 5) Everyone in Cozumel is SO friendly and our hotel personnel were no exception. To give you background on us, when we travel we like to stay at the really nice places, with cost being less of a consideration. We like clean rooms and good service and a good location. This hotel had all three. Everyone who stays here receives complimentary bottled water and a glass of champagne upon arrival (nice touch, though skip the champagne unless you like really cheap, bad tasting champagne) One of the best things in our minds about staying here, is that whatever time of day or night, you can get complimentary bottled water from the bell captian. So we never once had to BUY bottled water! And in our room there were always two really big bottles of water, so we used these to brush our teeth (maybe not necessary but we were cautious) Also: They have a safety deposit desk located in a locked room near the front desk and it was VERY safe. We kept our wedding rings here when snorkeling and most of our cash. YOu can't even get into your box with your key, without someone from the front desk using their key as well. They also give you a card to get towels by the pool. You give them the card, they give you a towel..worked out really well.

My hubby and I chose this resort because it's the only one in Cozumel with a AAA 5 star rating, which in Mexico actually means like 4 star I would say. It's expensive to stay here but the rooms, pool area, beach area and service were all exceptional and we felt it was well worth it after passing alot of other hotles that looked like absolute dives. Ours had a gated entrance and the guy at the gate would always ask for our room number when we would come and go by taxi. We felt very safe there and felt like we didn't have to worry about anything. Maid service was wonderful, the beds are a bit firm but not overly hard I would say and I like a really soft mattress. Air conditoning will make it feel like it's Alaska in your room, so use sparingly. We used ours on low only at night, but with it being so hot and humid here, it feels great after you've been in the sun all day.

Unlike some of the all inclusives we've read about, we didn't have to fight for anything. Never made reservations for meals here and could get a seat by the pool at anytime of day. The hotel is in very natural surroundings, with lush palms and other foilage, iguanas everywhere! wonderful fish to look at while snorkeling and we even found a sand crab wandering around! Below I'll list out some other points of interest:

Check In: Went very smootly and we were automatically upgraded from our garden room to an ocean view and they didn't charge us for it! We weren't sure if this was because we were celebrating our first anniversary, they wanted to get us "hooked" on a more expensive room or because we have a Priority Rewards card. Either way, we were thrilled! We were on the fifth floor (highest floor) with a view of the ocean, and could even see all the way down to the cruise ships. This was really great because we could just look outside our patio everyday to know how busy it would be in town. Oh yeah, avoid shopping Wednesday and Thursday and go on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday if you can. I recommend you apply for a Priority Rewards Membership. It's the loyalty program for the Intercontinental chain and it doesn't cost anything. You can apply right online and you earn points everytime you stay at one of their hotels, toward free nights.

Food- We ate breakfast everyday at their main restaurant and had the buffet. It was $20 per person but had everything you could want. Made to order omelettes, bacon, sausage, quesidillas, refried beans (really good), pancakes, smoked salmon, bagels and pastries, dutch potatoes,fresh fruit and 3 different kinds of juice to choose from. As you can see, you can easily skp lunch after eating here. They'll also bring you coffee or pop if you prefer. When the hotel is sold out, they do a waffle station with made to order waffles with your choice of ingredients. Don't miss the french toast-it was great!. My hubby really liked it and planned to get it one day and low and behold, they didn't have any. He mentioned this to me and the omelette guy heard him and said he'd place an order for it-fantastic!
We didn't eat at Alfredo's because no one ever recommended it and we never say anyone eating there! Besides, there's an Alfredo Di Roma at Epcot in Walt Disney World and I've eaten there before.
Quacamole and chips by the pool was great-best guac on the island, though a bit pricey. Have had better chips-these are a bit hard. Rastas, a Reggae Bar and Grill on the other side of the island, had the best chips ever. If you go there, ask for Ballazar, he's a really nice waiter!

Go into town for the best meals. Eat at Primas (Italian) (very safe to eat the salad here) and Casa Mission (authentic Mexican with the surroundings to match) I told my hubby that I until I ate at Casa Mission our first night, I didn't really feel like I was in Mexico. Fish with garlic sauce was very good and my hubby's combo plate was excellent as well. (By the way, we never got sick from the food)

Snorkeling: We took 2 trips while there, one with Dive Paradise and one with Scuba Du, which takes right off from the hotel. Dive Paradise people were really nice though we were dissapointed because they took us only to the more shallow reefs. Small boats meant less people but their boats could have been in better condition. Scuba Du was awesome-the guys on the boat were very knowledgable and extremely safe. We only had 2 other people in our boat! Took us to the 3 best reefs-Chankanub, Columbia Shallows and Planacar. We saw a green sea turtle and a huge spotted eagle ray! Too many fish to name though the giant rainbow parrot fish took the cake! Even saw a baracuda.

Spa: We had a couples massage and it was very good, though for a relaxation massage, they went a bit too deep for me. They don't ask you about how much pressure you like so my advice would be to discuss it with them ahead of time. They also drape the towel and ligthly massage your butt, something I've never had done in the states. After the initial shock, it felt great! They were very professional and discreet. Locker rooms are complete with hot tub (actually a HOT tub, unlike the one by the pool), steam room, showers and lockers. Very nice. They offer something like a 25% discount on their services if you pay with cash. Since we had no knowledge of this, we used up our all our pesos and most of our cash since we were leaving the next day. Prices are comparable, even a bit less, than what you pay in the US so it's worth it to at least check it out.

The Club at El Presidente: We were warned at the airport from our travel guy (we booked thru Classic Custom Vacations and it could not have been better) to avoid the timeshare stuff telling us that "nothing on Cozumel is free" but didn't think that the El Presidente was a timeshare. WRONG They have a new "Vacation Club" they try to sell you. They don't approach you directly so you have to go to them initially. There is an "information desk" at the hotel. DON'T go to this for information.....that's called the Conceirge. The "information desk" is staffed by people who try to get you to sit down with a sales rep to discuss their vacation club. My hubby was atimate with the girl at the desk, saying he wasn't interested in a timeshare and then went on to say he wasn't interested in a vacation club either. The girl said this wasn't either one of these (lie) She made it sound like it was just like the Priority Rewards Program so we fell for it. And we don't fall for ANYTHING. My hubby is an engineeer and I have a Bachelors Degree in Business and have been a salesperson all my life. Anyway, they convinced us they would buy us breakfast and that it would only take 1 1/2 hours to talk to them. Needless to say, we spent 2 hours with the sales rep and then the "hard closer, Roberto" sucked another hour out of our vacation. They start out saying that it is indeed a vacation club and it costs about $14,000 but they have this promotion and it costs only $12,000 now. We actually considered buying into it and managed to get them down in price and throw in more points. Thankfully, we said we wanted the day to think about it. At night, we came back, declined for the final time and they still wouldn't let us say no. Just remember: You have legs and no one is holding you down...if you don't like it, get up and walk away. They take a $20 deposit to hold their "deal" and in hind sight, I should have said take my word that we'll be here, I don't need to give you $20. Everything is about closing that day. Guess what? If you walk away, the deal is magically extended to the next day! Don't fall for their scheme. In the end, we got our $20 back, got a free breakfast buffet and $80 to use at the hotel which paid for our jeep rental. But we were so ticked off that we had lost half a day talking with these people. In the middle of the week, we checked out and went to Chichen Itza for one night. (Highly recommend this-was the highlight of our trip) When we checked in again, we asked for an upgrade to our garden room and they said they had rooms available but that it would cost us $40 more per night to upgrade to an ocean view room. My hubby, after being pretty unhappy with the whole timeshare deal, complained to the manager (they've had several complaints, but he told us "it's a corporate thing" they can't do much about) So, my hubby asked him, if as a goodwill gesture, he would upgrade us at no charge to an ocean view room. They did, so at least we felt like we broke even for the time we lost.
Have so much more I could talk about, so if you have further questions, feel free to email me at janevs@looney2ns.com and I'll be happy to tell you more about the hotel, Chichen Itza, where to dine at Playa Del Carmen, etc.
Enjoy your trip!

Jane