My husband and I stayed at the Fiesta in April 2005 and had an excellent trip for under $100 per day per person including airfare from upstate NY. We had a 6th floor oceanview room which was spacious with an excellent view and a nice balcony with two lounge chairs and a small table. The only meal we ate at Fiesta was a lunch of enchiladas - which was abysmally bad, even by my husband's generous standards. We both felt pretty sick afterward.
The all-inclusive package was offered to us at a cost of $55 per person per day at the hotel. We opted against it and instead ate at each of the island's top-rated restaurants and bought a blender, 3 bottles of Cuervo, strawberry puree and margarita mix and made frozen drinks in our room, which was a much better deal and much higher quality. $10 per 500 mL bottle of Cuervo- $25 elsewhere on the island - on sale at Chedraui grocery (watch for insane lines at checkout, and they won't sell liquor after 9 pm even if you've been in line for 30 minutes before they stop selling).
The taxi ride is $6 one-way to town, and we rented a car thru Avis (located in the Fiesta) prior to leaving for vacation for $25 per day. We drove around the island twice and barely made a dent in the gas tank. The other side of the island is not to be missed, especially Coconuts, a restaurant/bar with a perfect ocean view. Amazing.
We went snorkeling every day and found the best action just immediately north of the hotel between Dzul-Ha and the Presidente. We saw a school of huge parrot fish, baracuda, frog fish, and were swarmed with sergeant majors. It was the best snorkeling I've ever done. We brought all our own equipment: snorkels, fins, life jackets, masks. We walked to Dzul-Ha about a quarter mile or so and jumped in the water, sticking our watershoes in the straps of our life jackets and swimming down from Dzul-Ha to the Fiesta. Snorkeling without a guide or boat was a little intimidating since a lot of the good sights are a bit offshore, but we felt very safe wearing our jackets. We went super early, around 8 and got there before all of the snorkel tours.
Other interesting sights on the island include San Gervasio ruins for $5 - go early since it gets hot. We went at 8 am and were the only people in the place. Opens at 7 am. We also rode up the street from San Gervasio and took a tour of a tequila/agave farm and drank a strong margarita. Mezcalitos is a tiny outpost on the east coast of the island and had some cheap shopping where we negotiated a price of $20 for a really top quality poncho for a friend.
Would recommend staying away from scooters, looks pretty dangerous from the way people drive and the uneven roads. A better bet is to rent an econobox car to see the sights.
We checked out the Reef Club for free after attending a 2 hour presentation. It's essentially a timeshare, even if they don't admit it. The breakfast was totally worth it, and then we had the rest of the day to eat lunch and lounge on their very nice beach and grounds (the hammocks next to the adult pool were great and shady). It's $30 per person if you purchase a day pass, and $10 cab ride from the Fiesta. They pay your way there and you pay your way home, so bring some cash, it's a long walk. The sales pitch was mild, not painful at all and they let us leave when we wanted to. The mixed drinks are weak, but it looked like all the children were having fun. The place is packed with kids.
The room was adequate and clean if not up to American 4 star quality. Bathrooms were small but serviceable. The toiletries provided by the hotel were fine. The bed was hard but anticipating this we brought our own mattress pad ($14 from Big Lots) and the hotel brought us an additional mattress pad immediately upon our arrival upon our request. Service was competent and friendly. The front desk tried to give us a standard room at the outset even though we had paid for a deluxe room, but when confronted with the Travelocity receipt printout, they gave us our 6th floor oceanview room without fuss.
Overall, we were extremely happy with our choice and are very grateful to everyone who gave their opinion on this site.

We have stayed at the Fiesta Americana many times and have always found the rooms, grounds and common areas to be clean and very nice. We love the pool as well. This last time we noticed that most other guests were on the all inclusive and I have checked rates for that. I don't think it's a good value for the money, because although breakfast is good, the food in general for lunch and dinner isn't that great. You also are missing out on the many terrific restaurants this little island has to offer, just a taxi ride away. Don't limit yourself to eating at the hotel or you miss out on half the fun of being there. My husband and son scuba dive and like the easy access from the hotel. It is a great place to just relax for me! If you make friends with the poolside bartender, you can get some killer drinks, and if you are nice to the other staff, they will treat you well. Remember, you are in Mexico, not the United States, and the more demanding and impatient you become, the more resistance you will meet with. Small tips and a smile and graciousness will get you wonderful service for the most part.

I do agree with others on this site who have had bad experiences with the front desk, long waits, surliness, and on two occasions they said we had no reservation, merely a ploy to get more money from us. I have traveled extensively in Mexico and you just have to know how to get along there.

We wanted an affordable, quick holiday in Cozumel as it's a fantastic place to dive. After a lot of research on the all-inclusive hotels in Cozumel we settled on the Fiesta Americana. The room was clean and decent, however had the MOST uncomfortable bed (very hard - like a tough futon) we had ever slept in.

Breakfast was by far the best meal (buffet) and lunch folllowed second, with dinner a very, very distant third. Drinks were made with very low-grade liquor (makes sense...they're trying to make money here), however we found them so bad that we stuck with Corona (beer). Still feel like we got our money's worth, even though we went into town for dinner every night. The one time we ordered absolut the charge was $7.50 (we don't even pay that much in Boston...nevermind Cozumel!)

The hotel doesn't have the friendlist customer service, nor do the waitstaff. They still want tips, even though it's included in the all-inclusive deal, and that is a big turn-off (unless the service is above and beyond, but that is hardly the case.) However, the adage "you get what you pay for" is true: a clean room, working a/c, and palatable meals so you don't have to worry about getting into town every time you're hungry.

Note: if you want the beach you'll need to head further out of town. This is a very rocky (that is, coral) area.

One of our highlights was the couples beach massage - worth every penny!

We stayed at the Fiesta American all last week. Room was great (and yes the bathroom is small). Service was excellent all week from everyone we met. Food was just fine (don't know why there are complaints here). We stayed two years ago at El Cozumeleno which was also all inclusive. We thought their food was very bland. I think it's because they have so many visitors from the midwest who don't like spicy food. In fact, Cozumeleno never had any Mexican food the entire time we stayed there? Goofy!

The buffets were fine. Good salad bars at lunch and dinner. Wonderful breakfast buffet with custom made omelets at the beach restaurant. The theme nights (Italian, Yucatan, Tacos, Italian etc) were all great. We ate twice at the upstairs sit down restaurant and it was wonderful. Large filet mignon, or shrimp were both super. Service was excellent and even had a Mexican trio serenade us each night.

Dive House was excellent as a dive shop. Boats were large with 8 to 11 divers and two divemasters. I saw a Scubadu boat which had only six divers on it at one of our rest stops, and at first I was jealous, but upon really looking at their boat, it was really small and cramped. No real place to put things to keep them dry. Dive House boats had lots of room to suit up and store gear and they went to all of the standard great dive spots.

For snorkeling, which my wife loves, the area in front of the hotel was one of the best places on the island. In fact tour boats dump off their snorkelers right in front of the hotel for snorkel trips.

Don't be afraid of this place! And look into the all inclusive bargain. We spent probably about $50 per day for two for the inclusive plan through American Airlines. It was all our food, all the bottles of water we wanted, and all of the soft drinks, beer, and wine you could drink. Since bottle water is $4, and beer $4 or $5, that could add up besides the meals. A great bargain as far as we were concerned.
Thanks
Norm