We stayed at the FA from May 30 to June 3 with our 25 year old son and 21 year old daughter. We have stayed in Cancun/Mayan Riviera/Akumal/Cozumel for over ten years...always at all inclusives. We thought this one had the best food...not like a fancy restaurant but perfectly fine. Buffet or sometimes from the menu. We always stay at resorts with pool bars, and this one was good...not as much shade at the bar as say the Melia Cozumel, but I guess we dont' come for shade. We were upgraded to an oceanview without requesting it. The room was very clean and comfortable and included the self-locking safe for free. Even turn down service. There was a dive shop, but it was a bit pricey and we used Black Shark in town for just some shore diving and a resort course for our uncertified daughter. Very friendly and we drove their convertible VW to the site ourselves!

The beach was rocky and hard on the feet, but the snorkeling was great! Dzul Ha is just down the road within walking distance...one of the top places to snorkel that we've seen...lots of fish, morays eels, starfish, rays, etc. We snorkeled from Dzul Ha back to our hotel. The hotel has a concrete wall with a sandy "beach" behind it...plenty of palapas, lounge chairs and another handy bar as well as free equipment if you need it. Towels...don't have to fuss with those "cards" so many places use...just pick up what you need and give them your room number. Nice restaurant on the beach. The Miramar (reservations required) restaurant had great service...the food was marginally better than the other restaurant but my filet mignon was charred on the bottom...maybe some like it this way??

Anyway...we hope we can go back!

We just got back from Fiesta Americana in Cozumel. We were there from April 27, 2005 - May 7, 2005 and had a great time. We felt the hotel was what we expected.
We have been to Cozumel several times and find this the best way to get to the hotel. We walk out of the airport and turn right, walk about 500' to the main road outside of the airport and catch a taxi. The taxi's can not pick you up at the airport, but can stop outside on the main road. We took the taxi to town first to set up our diving and then out to the hotel. This meant two taxi rides at $11.00 total, but the ride back in was only $9. which would have been the same had we not stopped in town first. We choose to get the taxi at the main road because if you choose the shuttle vans at the airport, the cram you and your luggage into these vans with as many other people as they can fit into them and charge you $7. PER PERSON for this sardine ride.
Check in at the hotel went fairly fast, but we were given the first floor room, which is down on the basement level. We had made reservations for an upper level room. We asked to have this changed and he was more than willing to make the change since he had a room that was being cleaned at that time. We were invited to help ourselves to the bar or food while we waited the 30 minutes to get our room ready. The bellmen kept our luggage for us so that we didn't have to lug them around the hotel. The room was clean and there were no odd smells other than the usual smells you get from a room in a country with high humidity. Nothing offensive and didn't even notice it after a few minutes. The smells from the sewer, just kind of came and went on the outside of the hotel in the back as the system no dought had a lot of use. Mostly noticed on the mornings or evenings when there wasn't much of a breeze, but never smelled it anywhere in the public areas or pool area. Only from the walk to or from our room. We were on the 3rd floor and our door area was over the loading dock, so maybe their tanks were back there. Never had any smell come into the room. The beds were hard, but found them very comfortable and had no problem sleeping. Rooms are decent sizes, have a basic tv with some cable. Had a desk and a table with some chairs, a balcony with 2 chairs and a table that we used to fill up with our dive gear when drying them. The toilet was indead close to the wall, so watch your knees. Maid service was twice a day except no service on Friday. They kept the rooms clean and kept us in the towels. They did a great job trying to keep the floors dry with us making a mess with our dive gear. We even forgot to close the safe one day and left it standing wide open with our wallets, passports, tickets and an evelope of our tip money... thought we were in trouble, but nothing was touched. They do have a hair dryer in the room, so you can leave yours home. There is a coffee pot in the room, but if you use the coffee in the mini bar, you will be charged. Bring your coffee from home and you won't have to give up coffee on your vacation as we found their coffee not that good in the hotel. Unless you like to use your coffee to strip paint. We also brought some travel mugs with us so that we could use them for our drinks in the afternoon and keep them cold. This also saves on the amount of plastic cups they have to use and you find laying around.
We had the all inclusive, which we felt was the only way to go. If you book it ahead of time it will be much cheaper than after you get there. We heard them quoting $55. per person a day while you were there. We booked through bay adventures and it amounted to about $25. per day per person. Buying per drink is very expensive! One couple paid $22. for a 6pack of beer because he wasn't all inclusive. When drinking on the all inclusive plan you get local liquor, which is great for the beer. The hard liquor is all local, so in a mixed drink it is ok... but if you try and drink it with water or on the rocks, you might not care for it. The premium brands you have to pay extra for and they run $7 - $9 for a shot. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit to get waited on, but most of the bartenders were friendly. Roberto, the waiter in the lobby bar was real friendly and quick with service. He was a pleasure to talk to. We didn't give him a tip until the day before we left and he still was just as happy when not getting a tip. Tips are included in the all inclusive and you don't feel pressure to give them anything extra, but when they work so hard at making your vacation a happy one, we were more than happy to tip a little extra to the ones that seemed to love their jobs and made our stay more enjoyable. They really do have to live on almost nothing down there.
We always were able to find something to eat at the buffet. You always had some kind of fish, chicken, beef, pork. Veggies were always the same, broccoli, cauliflour, carrots. Plenty of melon and salads. The meat was usually cooked different ways, but nothing fancy. The only problems that we found with the food was the flies were sometimes very thick and wished they would put food screens over it. Then it is hard to keep food in a buffet the proper temperatures, so this was a problem sometimes too. I did get sick one day so think this might have been why. Bring pepto just in case. Others had no problem.
The top restaurant was very good. You get 2 visits per 7 days of stay and since we were there 10days we asked the manager and got a 3rd coupon. You have to go to the manager as the other front desk clerk will say no. You get to order one item from each of the two pages, plus dessert. Some of the other reviews we read complained that you only got 3 items, but if they could eat more than that....wow! We were so full when we left each time we don't know where we would have put it. We had lime soup all 3 times and it was fantastic! Best we've had. Eduardo was our waiter the first 2 times and he was great! They wouldn't let us sit at his table the 3rd time and our new waiter wasn't as good.
Some of the other people would go to town and eat if they didn't find something there to eat, which is even a good deal when your all inclusive. You will still get your moneys worth. Breakfast we had yogurt, cereal and fruit. They did have an omelet bar and lots of hot foods too. Plenty of choices for fruit juices too. Lunch was much like dinner, but you could get a burger cooked while you wait... just as for well done.
We never went to town as the cruise ships are usually there 6+ at a time and we prefer not to join the crowds. Sometimes if you waited later in the evening people said it wasn't that bad. This is not a big night life hotel, it is a divers hotel and they were usually in bed early and up early. If you want the night life then you would have to pay the taxi ride to and from town.
The internet is $2. for 30 minutes. Only one computer so if you see it empty and you have time, go for it. It is dial up, so don't get in a hurry.
We dove with Dive Paradise, which is who we have used all but one of our visits to the Island. You could use Dive house which is at the hotel, but their boats seemed to be more crowded and took forever to leave the docks. And in doing so, they take up the entire dock making it harder for your boat to pick you up.
Diving in Cozumel is always great and Fiesta is closer to the sites, so that you don't have as long of a trip to the reefs.
If you have any other questions about the resort or the diving, please feel free to email us.
Dale and Christi
Port Ludlow, Wa.

I stayed at the Fiesta Americana Apr. 23 - 30. We had the AI plan, which I think is definitely worth it. It was only $150 more for the week. I drank more than $150 worth of pina colodas (by the way are wonderful)! When we checked in at 12PM as everyone else was checking out they put us in the furthest casita away from the hotel. The room was very nice, but it was a very long walk from the hotel, and there was that smell that everyone talks about. I went back to the desk and asked for a room on the 3rd floor or higher and they said come back at 3PM for a room on the 3rd floor. We did, and the room was ready.

The bed was extremely hard! I went to Chedraui to buy a matress pad, but they don't have any. I suggest bringing one! The toilet is in an awkward position. The room is average - very similar to a Hampton Inn.

The food was good and better than I expected. Breakfast was excellent. The Miramar was also very good.

We dove 14 dives with Dive House. They have a very good operation, and all the divemasters were great. It's very convenient if you're staying at the FA, and it's easy to store your gear there. Just bring a padlock with you. Bring 1 padlock per person - the lockers aren't very big. We dove once with Dive Paradise. I do not recommend them - their boats are not in good shape, and I question the competency of the divemasters.

We rented a Jeep from Executive since Avis in the hotel would not give me the rate I saw online. If you want to rent a jeep make sure you reserve it online before leaving home. Do not rent from Executive! What a nightmare. They told us the rate was $56 on the phone, and when we got there it was $66. When we went to return it, the office was closed and we were told by the guards in broken English to take it downtown. No one could tell us where their downtown location was. After asking a policeman and two taxi drivers we finally found it. Then we had to wait a while for someone to take us back to FA. I was looking forward to spending a few hours by the pool before leaving on Sat. but no such luck. They didn't bother to tell us the office would be closed the next day, nor did they have any signs or notes telling us what to do. Ridiculous.

The diving was great in Cozumel, but I don't want to go back to Mexico. I felt like I was always being scammed for a few bucks. And no one was nice except the divemasters at Dive House. (And I gave tips to waiters, taxi drivers, etc. so that wasn't the reason for the bad service either.)

I stayed at the Fiesta Americana in a "Grand Class" room for 4 nights. The location is perfect for divers - midway between San Miguel and the dive sites to the south. The room was a good size and oceanview. Grand Class rooms are on the 4th and 5th flrs, supposedly slightly bigger and remodeled compared to standard oceanview. Furnishings are advertised as Mayan, but they are just wood, nothing special or terribly attractive. Only complaint about the room is the bathroom. Specifically, the toilet location. I'm 5'9" and relatively thin and my knees were hitting the wall. Whomever planned that must have a had a few too many margaritas first!

We did the AI plan because we were diving and didn't want to be running around to find places to eat, or paying high hotel prices. The food was better then I expected. Adequate but not fabulous. Breakfast was more then adequate, and lunch and dinner we always managed to find something we liked that was pretty good. The reservation restaurant, Miramar, was very nice.

There were 2 large dive groups at the hotel when we were there. And one group really did think that they were the only people there. Very loud, obnoxious, and inconsiderate of anyone else around them. I could also have done without the loud speaker poolside bingo and assorted afternoon games. We got back from dives around 2pm and lucky for us, the fun and games started right around that time.

Overall, the FA is a good choice if the reason for your trip is diving. All the operators will pick up at the hotel pier, and you're about 15 minutes closer to the dive sites then staying in town. You're also only a $6 taxi from town if you feel the need to get your fill of tshirt and jewelry shops and cruise shoppers. It's not a luxury resort, but the rooms are descent, the AI package is descent and for the money, I have no complaints.

We booked with a small dive op, Living Underwater, and they were absolutely fabulous. Very detail and service oriented. All we had to do was dive, they took care of everything else - our gear (even wetsuits), water, fruit, snacks, towels, jackets onboard, surface intervals at a beach club. Max of 6 divers. The boat is fast and comfortable. The diving is relaxed and with their large steel tanks you get long dives and you can do 2 deep dives if that's what you want. The quality of service and dive experience we had was well worth the $80/2 tanks price.