We did not do the all inclusive but the package we had included a continental breakfast buffet.

Pros:

Room and facility were very clean and well maintained. Probably well above average but not the very top tier(not that we expecting it a top tier place)

In some of the pictures you can see a road that goes between the hotel/pool and the beach area. There was very little traffic on this road and it was not a problem. In fact having the hotel set back a little bit was a plus one day when the beach was too windy but the pool was sheltered and pleasant.

They have done a lot of work adding wheelchair ramps and we saw at least one person in a wheelchair staying there. We don’t have detailed information about how well it worked but if you are looking for wheelchair accessibility this hotel deserves more research.

The cab fair from downtown was only about $6 for a couple and was very reasonable for the distance traveled. The shuttle from the airport was $9 per person and they have it set up so you cannot easily get a taxi from the airport. For a couple it was still reasonable but if you had a large group it might add up.

If you are not doing the all-inclusive, Dominos Pizza deliverers to the hotel. The room service hamburger and fries was also very good and reasonably priced about the same as a mid-range restaurant.

Cons

We had reserved a room with a room with a king size bed but they didn’t have any when we checked in and were told we would need to switch the next day. The next day they still didn’t have any and didn’t seem to care, until I made it clear that I would post the situation on web sites. A room with a king size bed then became available. They take these reviews very seriously.

The dinner buffet was way over priced at $19 per person. I suspect high prices like this are typical of places with an all-inclusive plan that also have non-all-inclusive guests. If the continental buffet weren’t included in our package, it would have been about $10 per person, which would have also been pretty high.

The snorkeling off the beach didn’t have much to see. I suspect that this has been greatly affected by the hurricanes.

There was no stores or restaurant nearby; the only bottled water that seemed to be available to a non-all-inclusive guest was $3.25 for a 1.5 liter bottle that sells for about sixty cents in town.

Out of curiosity I walked through the area with 'tropical casita's behind the hotel. I occasionally got a whiff of an unpleasant smell. The day I was there it wasn’t too bad but still noticeable.

My dive buddy and I stayed at the Fiesta Americana Feb 9-16 2008. I liked the hotel and the dive operator (Dive House), and would definitely stay there again.

I agree with other reviewers: do not stay in the Grand Casistas/Suites (the separate buildings in the back of the property). No ocean view at all. Separate from all hotel amenities. Hardly anyone staying there--our walking tour left us feeling out of it. And I would agree that their seems to be a certain mustiness about the area due to remnants of the hurricane.

We stayed in room 510. The hotel is well-designed, clean, well-maintained, with great service. Marble is everywhere (watch out, it is definitely slippery when wet). Yes, the bathroom is small, but functional and clean, with a separate vanity area. Room included a modern safe, which we used. The food is very good, and the water is safe to drink. Excellent Sandwich de Pescado at The Reef restaurant, had it every day for lunch. Wonderful pools. Didn't mind crossing the street to the 'beach' (the real beaches are on the other side of the island). Snorkeling was convenient and safe, but rather barren (check out the fish taking refuge under the pier). Two fabulous pools, one hotel side with a swim-up bar (oh yeah), one across the street. Both pools are kid-friendly. The hotel-side pool has coordinated activities and a DJ with music. We preferred the beach just across the street, very convenient and accessible.

Dive House is very well run, with a good focus on diver safety. They have four boats of varying sizes, all with some level of protection from the elements. Thanks very much to Javier, Oswaldo, Victor, Lorena and Iban and the crew and captain of the boats for 10 excellent drift dives. The dive sites we visited: Paradise was my favorite; Yucab seemed to be still recovering from the hurricane, but I think this was the site were we saw the monster green moray eel (monster = 12" wide, 6-7' long); Santa Rosa, Columbia and San Francisco had enjoyable walls; Palancar Bricks had phenomenal swim-throughs; Big Mountain had THE fastest current, which would have been awesome except for all the stopping (I really don't like burning through air just to fin really hard while eleven divers try to check out a nurse shark nestled under a coral overhang).. I enjoyed the drift dives in Cayman Brac much more, as there was no stopping...just the sensation of flying and seeing what the ocean wanted me to see.

While Cozumel is not at the top of my list of Carribean island dive vacation destinations, it does offer the advantages of convenience (we can fly right out of Milwaukee) and economy (it's relatively cheap). I would recommend going the all-inclusive route, it's a great value. We heard that the 2L bottle of water FA was providing everyone for free in seemingly unlimited quantities costs $5/bottle at El Presidente.

I had the opportunity to superfically check out the other dive operators/hotel combos that made our short list, and most were in the 'Centro'--center of the city near the cruise ship ports, where the nearest hotel seemed to be right on the street. So, I'm very happy with the location of the Fiesta Americana Dive Resort--a 20-30min taxi ride south from the airport, and a $6/short taxi ride from the resort to the Centro, and a 10-15 minute walk from Chakanaab Park. In other words, it's not in the busy part of town.

Two pieces of advice: don't let the 'staff' at the airport get you to step aside to the bistro tables manned by personnel trying to sell spots at El Ciebe. And ask around for taxi fares. We investigated taxi fares from the hotel to Punta Sur, and were quoted $70. Same fare from Chakanaab Park: $20.

Email me at jdschiller@wi.rr.com if you have questions or want more details.

My husband and I returned from 2 weeks at the Fiesta Americana & we loved it! The hotel was clean & service was great. We did the inclusive plan and enjoyed the freedom that it gave us for meals. The buffet was OK – but we wished the food had been warmer. We worked around it with options like fresh breakfast omelets, great grilled burgers for lunch, or fresh fajitas for dinner. Our room had an awesome view that we enjoyed early AM & late in the evening after a great day of snorkeling/scuba diving. There was a small coffee maker in the room, so we bought coffee/filters and made our own - perfect for mornings on the balcony.

The snorkeling was great – walked into the water and immediately saw a huge variety of fish. Snorkeling right in front of the Fiesta, we saw a yellow stingray, southern stingray, lobster, 2 octopus, barracuda, along with a wide variety of fish. One day we walked north to the Money Bar and snorkeled back to the Fiesta drifting along with the current.

We rented a car one day and drove around the island. It was kind of spendy as we rented a jeep, but enjoyed the open air and the convenience of having the car delivered to our hotel.

The on-site dive shop was great to work with. My husband did his referral dives and I did the pool dive followed by a ‘Discover Scuba’ dive & then a boat dive to Paradise reef. We enjoyed a day at Chankanaab Park where we did another scuba dive with Eduardo at the San Miguel dive shop within the park. My husband did quite a few dives during our stay, mostly with the on-site dive shop, but also with Papa Hogs Dive Shop, both were great experiences with fast trips to the reefs.

We enjoyed the quietness of a dive hotel – where most people are there to dive, therefore not a lot of partying in the evening. We went to town 3 different times, during shopping we stopped at the Mayan Pearl and met Nelli – the owner as well as the artisan that makes all the jewelry in the shop. I loved the original jewelry she makes and my husband enjoyed talking with her discovering that for the 8 years she lived in Chicago, they were almost neighbors. Lots of shared memories! No sales pressure meant an enjoyable shopping experience and we will be back!

All in all we loved the hotel, quiet location south of town, and friendly service. We will be back!

My wife and I just returned form a long weekend at Fiesta Americana. This is our sixth trip to the area, third to Coz. Our other two stays were at the Presidente. We have had great experiences at Presidente - but it is over-the-top expensive and we wanted to try something new. Our criteria: stay south of town to be closer to dive sites, good on-site dive operator, don't spend a fortune. I think we accomplished all three of these, but I don't think this hotel deserves the 4 star rating versus the 5 star Presidente.

-Facilities: Generally clean but a little rough around the edges. Easy to see where things were repaired after Wilma versus the older original building. Older furniture, light fixtures, TVs in public areas. Road between main hotel and beach was annoying but not that big of a deal. Loud, bad American music around the pool during the day (Why do they think Americans want to hear American music?)
-Room: We were put in a 2-double-bed room after having reserved a King. They moved us right away, but to a room that I don't think was used very often. Right next to a service elevator, which was noisy late at night and early in the morning. Broken, shabby furniture. No refrigerator - standard in other rooms. Mattress as hard as a rock. Despite this, beautiful view, small but clean functional bathroom.
-Food/drink: We did not buy the all-inclusive because we're not huge drinkers and like to eat dinner in town. Had breakfast / lunch at the oceanside restaurant. Good (not great) buffet. Good service. Ordered once from the menu which was good. Spotted a large bug crawling up the wall by the buffet one day. I guess hard to avoid this in these warm climates. Only had cheap beer (I assume because of the all inclusive option). Would be nice to have something nicer for those willing to pay.
-Beach: Rocky shore-line with sand behind retaining walls, similar to Presidente. One snorkel / swimming entrance. Lots to see in the water right off shore and under the dock. We snorkeled every day and saw something new. Not too much demand for deck chairs and a quieter pool over here.
-Staff: Generally good but not great, seemed a little tired of obnoxious Americans, which I can understand. Guests seemed to be split into two types - Drinkers and divers, with some cross-over.
-Dive Shop: Dive House did a great job. Lots of dive options, experienced dive masters, good boats and OK equipment.