We stayed at this hotel from 12/6 to 12/11. The first few days we were there, the water was flat as a board and snorkeling right off the beach was nice. Lots of fish near the break to the right.

Pros: Nice hotel, clean, got awesome sunset pictures off the beach, good food (even better food at the indoor restaurant), away from town and cruise ship crowd. Eduardo, the bartender speaks good English and took up calling our tequila sunrise, (after my husband made a joke about it), a tequila sunset since it was in the evening. Santiago, the waiter in the restaurant, was also very attentive and cheerful. Free access to internet was definitely a perk, because I didn't have to lug my laptop on the plane. The pool area gets sun nearly all day, so sun access was good. Don't go for the chairs near the stairs - you'll get spray from the showers.

Cons: The front desk gave me plenty of 20s (pesos) for tipping on our first day, but afterwards never got in less than a 50 making it difficult to tip staff. The pool was cold and was rarely used by guests. The black birds in the outdoor restaurant - watch out above! One of them pooped on my arm the very first day we were there. Absolutely disgusting! Do not leave your food unwatched, close the buffet trays, otherwise they'll be in it. The front desk will not allow internet access until 8a.m.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay, but of Cozumel and Cancun, I personally liked our hotel in Cancun better due to the warmer pool and walking distance to everything.

on a north western strip of beach, the resort outdoes it's island surroundings. the concierge and staff in general are superb and providing clean rooms, nicely appointed, endless amounts of buffet style food from sunrise to sunset and information on anything or place on the island . take your family, golf clubs, bikini, tip money, forgot your diarrhea pills , you'll be in good hands there.
ask for Arturo or Oscar for your personal concierge. book the upper floors 8 or 9
if your looking for a less domesticated, more foreign setting try somewhere else.

This is really an excellent resort. As a seasoned traveller of both all inclusive and a la cart travelling, This was definately one of the best values ever. I booked my 2 week stay at El coz on the internet for $1100 plus taxes, all in. Naturally, my excellent rating for the resort is (somewhat) qualified by this great price.

Resort and rooms
This resort is located about 10 minutes NORTH of town. This is about 5 bucks by cab (the only transportation in Coz). Being NORTH of town means little for non diving vacationers but creates some inconvenience for divers. More on this later.

The resort itself appears to be pretty much new and, while it has a large capacity, is on a fairly small site. This is a fully modern, well maintained hotel in great shape with ameneties that exceeded my expectations. Our room was very clean, large and well appointed, and had a wonderful large balcony. The views from all rooms look out on the ocean and were spectacular. Great beds, lots of hot water and comforable AC with no mold smell.

Staff
I sometimes get the feeling, in resorts in less advantaged countries, that beneath the smile and the freindly greetings of the staff, that there is a certain resentment; an unhappiness that makes me feel like I really shouldn't be there. I end up with peculiar feeling of both identification and guilt; of wanting to enjoy my vacation and wanting to leave. I'd have to say that my stay at Cozumeleno never produced any such feelings.
The staff at El Coz are truly remarkable; freindly, courteous, sensitive and helpful. In El Coz I never felt like I had a dollar sign printed on my forehead. Thank-you, to both the management and the staff at El Coz for sparing me any mixed blessings.

Food
Well...... Here it is.
Good.... most of the time. Sometimes not very good. Sometimes really good. Never great. It's easy to see why there is such a range of opinion on the food here. The Mexican food here ranges from alright to really good. Other foods range from not very good to alright. The quality of ingredients is really good, but lacking a real chef hurts El Coz in almost all areas of food quality. Both the buffet and the A La carte were outstanding in service but, at best, inconsistent with food. Breakfast was the only meal I did't feel was lacking, but there is no expresso at the resort until dinnner, and only at the A La Carte restaurant.

Diving and Snorkeling.
I have always felt that Coz was a pretty poor snorklelling destination to begin with but, that being said, the snorkelling in front of the resort is as good as any on the island. Forget about Chankanaab and any paid spots ( including the 3 reef tour) and just get yourself into the water at the resort dive shop and head south. I was surprised at how good it was...and unlike everything else on Coz now, it's free!
The scuba diving is outsourced to Scuba Doo at the Presidente hotel, a half hour to the south. If there are more than 6 Divers at the Coz who want to do the 2 tank morning dive, a scubadoo boat will pick you up at the hotel dock for an hour long boat ride to Palancar (Drag). Dive is roughly 35 bucks per dive ( $70 for 2 tank trip) plus tip. Count on leaving at 9 and getting back at 2:30. Less than 6 divers and the dive shop pays round trip for a cab to the Presidente. There is a single tank afternoon dive as well, but its not worth it as you have the 2 hour travel time and have to pay for your own cab to Presidente which can be 40 bucks round trip. Shore diving is available from El Coz but theres nowhere to go. Currents are strong up here in the north and the boat lane is not far from shore. Diving here is pretty regimented and the schedule is set for the week and is the same every week, with different sites set for each weekday. You may find more varied and challanging diving by using a different dive shop, but expect to pay. There are no Dive ops which pick up at the hotels north of town and you will have to taxi both ways, adding about 10 bucks minimum per trip. I found the dive shop att EL Coz really freindly and proffessional. Antonio, who manages things, was as accomodating as he could be, was 100 per cent reliable and trustworthy. Scubadoo is extremely safety oriented and well run.
The only problem with a big op like Subadoo is that you may have a different Divemaster on every dive and have to redemonstrate your skill level with every one, and on every dive, before they trust you not to kill yourself. Even advanced divers and divemasters might be asked if they knew how do a safety stop. I think a little better communication between divemasters and Antonio would help.
On the other hand, I dove with a few "advanced divers" who looked like they could drown snorkelling on a beach dive.

All I can say is... the reefs and the diving on Cozumel is almost as spectacular as it has ever been. However; with the introduction of the Cuise Ships, everything on cozumel is starting to feel a little cookie cutter, including the diving. If this was solely a dive trip for me... I would consider different accomodations. Perhaps an entirely new destination.

None the less, this is a great resort with a little bit of everything. I would definately return to El Cozumeleno if Cozumel was my destination.

My wife and i just came back from El Cozumeleno and our saty was great. the food wasn't bad and there was a selection. We chose to venture into town for dinner at night for a little more variety. The hotel has lots to do, you just can't be a bump on a log. The dive shop at the hotel is amazing for keeping you informed on what is going on and the service was amazing. snorkling is fabulous and if but as any fish person knows the real colourful fish will be out on the reefs not close to shore. If your looking for the real party scene this is not for you unless you are willing to venture out. The city life went on all night long and the people in town were great. I would rate this as a top notch hotel for anyone.