My wife and I stayed at the Cozumel Palace from January 17-25. Since it would be our first visit to Cozumel we did extensive research. Not only on where to stay, but on the island itself. After reading over 200 reviews on the Palace we decided it would be the perfect choice. Because of our extremely high expectations we were actually prepared to be let down. We had no let downs whatsoever! During our stay he weather was very nice and the hotel was about two thirds occupied. For us it was absolutely perfect, and we enjoyed the best vacation we have ever taken!

Being aware that "Beauty is in the eye (and occasionally the ear, or expectations) of the beholder", I am sometimes amazed at what I read in other reviews. Based on their observations, I would swear that we had not stayed at the same hotel. In response to various recent submissions I would like to state that:

---We stayed in a lovely room on the fourth floor. It was perfect! Large, well-appointed and spotless. The king size bed was very comfortable, which something we have found to be somewhat of a rarity in Mexico. We enjoyed using the room's double jacuzzi , and the view from our balcony was spectacular. Being only forty feet from our balcony, the Carribean was literally only a stone's throw away. During our 8 day stay we never once heard any noise in the hallway. When relaxing at the pools we were never harassed to participate in any activites, and we thought the poolside music volume was modest, particularly when compared to some other places which we have stayed. We also enjoyed each evenings entertainment presentation, and if we happened not attend, we could rarely hear any noise in our room, even though our balcony door was always wide open.

I find it extremely hard to believe the assertion that, half-dozen cruise ships are parked right off shore of the hotel, totally obliterating the scenic ocean view. One only has to check the many pictures that have been submitted to see that the main cruise ship dock is in San Miguel, nearly a mile away. It will host up to 3 ships, and we had to lean out of our balcony and peer way off to the right in order to even see them. The other cruise ship dock is about three miles down the coast to the left. Our view was always magnificent. We also had friends who wanted to check out the Palace, and the people in Guest Services were more than happy to give them a grand tour of all the facilities.

Since this was our first AI experince we were concerned with what we might experience regarding food and drinks. Once again, we loved the food , and were impressed with the fact that, even though the breakfasts and lunches were buffets, the dishes they offered varied widely from day to day. It was also nice that no dinner reservations were needed at any of the four sit down restaurants, and we never had to wait to be seated.

As for the drinks, each room has a mini refrigerator which is continually well stocked with water, sodas and beer. Plus, in each room's armoire there are dispensers of brandy, rum, scotch and tequila. Which brings me to another reviewer who suggested that if your priority is to drink all day long without worrying about your bar tab, then the Palace would be a good place to be. It was really the only reason, they continued, could imagine wanting to be there. Well, he fact is, being the party animals we are, during our 8 days the in-room liquor dispensers were never used, nor was a single beer taken from the fridge (only 3 sodas and a lot of water). At three of our dinners we each had a glass of wine, and on four occasions we each enjoyed an exotic tropical drink out by the pool. To top it off, when we checked out, the bottles of champagne and wine we had won were intentionally left in the room......still unopened. May I repeat, we had a wonderful time!!! May I add that, though I have rarely seen it mentioned, we also enjoyed using the nice exercise equipment in their fitness gym.

Now let's finally get one thing straight about the Cozumel Palace.............There...is...no...beach!!! But there are also no beaches along most of the Cozumel shoreline. There are a few lovely, though limited, beach areas both north and south of San Miguel, and also in the unsettled back side of the island, but that is not what Cozumel is noted for. It's main claim to fame is having some of the finest snorkeling and scuba diving in the world. That is why it is so nice to be able to go down just a few steps and snorkel right off the hotel facilities. If you like to take your sun on the sand they have clean and well maintained areas in which to do so, however, if you want a sandy beach on which to take long strolls, you should obviously select one of the resorts that has one, or perhaps go to another island altogether. In doing so, there are some trade-offs.

One of the nicest things about the Palace is its close proximity
(only15 minute walk) to the shopping and residential areas of San Miguel. Most of the other nicer resorts are much farther from town. We enjoyed experiencing the local culture away from the "cruiser shops" area. Sunday is the only day there are no cruise liners, and one of the highlights of our stay was attending the Sunday evening gathering of the local folks in the beautiful town plaza. It is their big social event of the week, and is quite a family affair. In place of candy, I had taken hundreds of balloons, or "globos", and passed them out to the children. They were delighted to receive them, and I greatly enjoyed seeing the fun they had playing with them.

If we had one regret about our trip it was spending the better part of a day ferrying to the mainland and going to the Aventura Palace to hear their "90 minute presentation" on the Palace membership program. The presentation took over 2 1/2 hours even though we didn't ask a single question. I'm sure many people have found it to be very attractive, but it was nothing we were interested in, so even though we we were given lunch and a tour of their lovely resort, and were also able to check out a bit of the Playa de Carmen area, we considered it to be a rather wasted day.

The Cozumelenos have a well deserved reputation for being the nicest people in all of Mexico, and this was clearly evidenced by those on the Palace staff. All of their employees were very friendly, hard working and efficient, and strove to meet our every need. We enjoyed tipping them for their excellent work, but we did not notice if this was a common practice. I am certain the quality of your service would be excellent either way. We are eagerly looking forward to a return visit to the Palace, and until then, we will enjoy all the wonderful memories and photos we have from our first visit.