I'd read every review, looked at all the pictures (is the beach really just a big man made sandbox? And Ugh - that Mattress photo!) but booked because we got a fabulous price for an AI package and I wanted to be just south of town for good snorkeling. Wanted to have AI for all breakfasts and most lunches (and drinks, of course, though we are not huge drinkers) but at a cheap enough rate that we wouldn't feel guilty skipping out for favorite dinners in town. The hotel exceeded our expectations in so many ways; we'll definitely be going back next year if I can find a similiarly priced package.

First - know that this was our 7th trip to Coz - love the island, the people, the snorkeling. Have stayed at many hotels in all price ranges. But this was our first trip since the hurricane and the shore snorkeling (everywhere - we went many places..) is NOT as it was. So sad. Once we realized that folks who had never seen it "pre-wilma" thought it was fabulous - we did a mental shift and just enjoyed it. Took a boat out from Playa Palancar for reef snorkeling and that was great - much less damage out in the blue, I highly recommend it.

The hotel: Exceptionally clean and well maintained. Well trained staff, gracious and helpful. Tipping routinely does help (I was shocked to see so few people tipping - and it was a mostly american crowd - so they should know to -just a few bucks here and there folks, these employee get paid very little!) Grounds were very clean but landscaping was lackluster - no real gardens to enjoy. Newly remodeled room (5th floor -great view) with a balcony containing very comfy fabric sling deck chairs and a nice big teak coffee table. If you get a room with the white plastic chairs out there, ask to switch! It seemed about half and half and it may be that the ones with the "good" sling chairs are also the ones with updated teak furniture inside. We couldn't be happier with the room and maid service. Well, actually the bed was too hard but that's been spoken about at length by other reveiwers. We slept fine once we adjusted. Linens, pillows, art, lighting were all very stylish - new and clean.

Beach and Beach Restaurant: Nothing better than an omlette with your chosen fillings, abundant fresh fruit offerings and staff attending to your coffee cup while you wake up in the morning, enjoying the water view right in front of you. Few hotels have dining facilities right ON the water - we enjoyed this very much. Yes, you have to cross the street, but it is not a busy street and it's a quick stroll. The "sandbox" was plentiful - lots of shade huts, loungers and beach service for drinks/snacks once the breakfast was put away and the beach was kept quite clean as well. The entrance to the water - down one of two sets of steps - was problematic for those who did not have watershoes. It is VERY rough on the feet. Bring watershoes -so glad I did. Entering with flippers (for snorkeling) was difficult. The flippers protect the feet but the surf /currents makes it hard to keep your balance. This was one area that I felt the hotel could have paid more attention to. There must be something they could have done to make entering the water easier (some other ironshore beaches have metal handrails). Snorkeling from the beach was fun - lots of fish - and this whole strip (Presidente Hotel, Money Bar -the old Dzul ha, FA) is as good as it gets for shore snorkeling .

We wanted a quiet hotel (no loud entertainment crew, no blaring disco music) and we found we were extremely content on the beach, hearing the ocean sounds. Little traffic noise. There was some bingo playing and such by the hotel side pool if you go in for that kind of thing. There is a pool on the sea side too if you want a pool that's quiet. Large, plentiful towels, just switch them out at the poolside hut when you need them, no hassle like some places we have been. They even had "library" of beach reading materials - paperbacks, magazines - that folks could donate their finished books to and borrow from, set up right there -nice

Food: Had great trepidation about "buffet" food and was pleasantly surprised that the buffets were fine. Plenty of selection at breakfast, lunch we ordered off the menu mostly - chicken flautas were yummy - though the buffets had a good variety and didn't look at all like "last nights dinner recycled". We had two dinners, ordered off the menu, and they were excellent in food quality (we wish the hotel could get the concept of lowering lights and adding candles at dinner). But lots of people were enjoying the buffets and seemed happy. A few flies buzzing by the outdoor buffets, but nothing like we have seen at other places. The staff kept the food fresh and the areas clean. There seemed no restrictions for AI in ordering from the menu. The only addtional charge we paid at check out was for a bottle of water from the "mini bar/snack bar" in the room. If you use anything from there (coffee/filters/water even - not just candy, etc) you will be charged. Bring your own and ask at any bar/restuarant on the premises for big water bottles, free for AI). We'd just forgotten to get one one evening and felt to lazy to go back downstairs!

Evening entertainment: None. Really. A half hearted attempt at karioke one night, but guests weren't interested. Fine with us, but if you are looking for a "festive/party" atmosphere you should know that there isn't any. Plenty to do/places to party in town if you are so inclined. Most people staying at the resort were divers and early to bed. By 11pm, it was a few diehards by the bars and thats all. There are pool and pingpong tables if you want to make your own entertainment!

All and all, it was a perfect stay for us and the price clinched it. Quiet, clean, good location (only a $6 cab to town) nice beach, good snorkeling, great staff. I would recommend it highly for age 30 - 60's couples, though there were a few families with young children having a nice time. Would I recommend FA for a honeymoon? no Partying singles? no. But anyone looking for a "toes in the sand, margarita in one hand, beach book in the other" vacation at a reasonable price at an up to date island hotel will be happy here.

We are a gay couple, ages 27 and 31.

Overall, we thought this hotel was okay. In the end, we found the hotel to be reasonably-clean, the staff friendly, the location safe, and the smaller-size hotel (less than 300 rooms) to be relaxing.

However, we have never had to move from a hotel room before. Initially, we were placed in a 'tropical casita' (on the property, but not in the main hotel building - they are separate entry units, four units in each building). The casita we were in (unit 911) smelled horribly of wastewater (as did the stairs leading to the entrance to our casita). Their were dustbunnies all over the place. The view from the balcony (which, of course, the outdoors smelled like wastewater) was death-looking vegitation.

After being shown four other casitas, the staff kindly placed us in our originally-requested room, an ocean-view room on the fifth floor, which was perfect and just as clean as any other room in Mexico in which we've stayed.

The cocktails left much to be desired - we left the property for our cocktails (as we usually prefer anyway) and also made our own for balcony-based happy hours.:=)

We had most of our breakfasts at the hotel, enjoying the open-air ambiance and right-on-ocean beauty. (The breakfast restaurant is across the street from the hotel.)

We went out for our dinners, as we like to do and found wonderful, authentic restaurants. Our favorites downtown were: La Choza and Especias.

The beach from the hotel is not sandy -- rather it is rocky. The bes thing to do is to walk 1/4 mile toward downtown and snorkel/swim from the Money Bar beach and float back to the Fiesta Americana.

The crowd at the hotel seemed to generally be 50-65 years of age.

We did feel the hotel was priced accordingly to what you get.

Seeing the south part of the island is a must! Eat at one of the barely-standing huts with amazing, authentic food and wonderful views of the ocean - Playa Bonita is best!

My husband & I stayed at the Fiesta Americana Cozumel January 22-27th. The staff were very friendly & helpful. The weather was gorgeous, no rain, windy in the afternoon. Only 1 of the 3 restaurants were open at one time. I think that was because the hotel was only about 40% full. I wish we could have ordered off of the menu more. I think it was only offered once for dinner.
The only problem we had was making our connecting flight in Houston. We missed it & they did not have any other flights to Cozumel that day, so we had to fly to Cancun, take an hour bus ride to Playa del Carmen ( very nice from the few minutes I was there), then catch the ferry to Coxumel & take a taxi to our hotel.

We also swam with the dolphins at Chatanaab National Park. Wonderful experience, Luis was our trainer & Romulis (?sp) was the dolphin.

The shopping in Cozumel was great & I love haggling. We were there for Carnival (Cozumel's Mardi Gras celebration), it was great! A must see if you are there when it is going on. The colors of the costumes & floats were amazing. It was very safe being in town after dark, never had any problem, never felt unsafe.
Can't wait to go back!

We just returned from a 7 night stay at the fiesta americana. First off the resort was very clean and the rooms we're nice ( except the rock hard beds and pillows we didn't sleep well at all) we go to cozumel alot and wanted to try this resort for a change. We will not stay there again the service was very slow and rude at times. We did not do the all inclusive option we like to go downtown and eat at night which we are glad because we did eat lunch at the resort and it was not good at all and every meal we ate there we always got charged extra for something so look at your receipts before you sign! The last couple of days we found the money beach club about a 5 minute walk they have the best breakfast it was so good.
The pool was freezing we couldn't even swim in it it was so cold they do not heat the pool.
They do do activities around the pool through the day games and stuff we liked that and the pool entertainment was great and th staff at the pool was great. Omar and Jasmine we're the best. They we're not real fast on getting the rooms clean somedays they wouldn't get to our room till about 5:00 or 6:00.