We stayed at El Cozumeleno Jan 11-18. We found this place advertised in apple vacation, checked trip advisor, found mostly favorable reviews.
The staff are very friendly, service is excellent. Rooms clean, ac works well.
Facilities maintained well, pools cleaned daily. The beach area is quite rocky, but there is pretty good snorkeling right out front.
Food in the buffet was very good, but some of the same everyday, typical of all inclusives. There were quite a few flys around, but they were a problem all over the island at outdoor restaurants this time of year.
The inside restaurant "la Veranda" has excellent food and service, and is worth making reservation for in the morning.
Cab ride to town is only $5 for two persons. Our favorite restaurant in town was Pancho's back yard.
Good value, hope to return next year.

Just got back from a 2 week vacation at this resort on January 14th. We are a family of 4 with kids, ages 9 and 11.

HOTEL ROOM AND GROUNDS: Nice compact resort, well maintained and groomed grounds, spacious oceanview room.

SWIMMING POOLS: Freezing, let's just say, the ocean is warmer!

BEACH: Awesome for snorkeling, crystal clear water on a nice day, unless it's windy! Saw Barracudas, Stingrays, Blowfish, etc. without even diving...A bit rocky, however in some areas, different from other Carribean beaches...

ENTERTAINMENT: Limited and poor in quality. Once every second day, 3 times per week.

FOOD: That's the major problem of this resort...
BUFFET: Repetitive, dull and limited in variety. You're fighting with the flies that hover over the food when it's hot and humid, as the one and only Buffet restaurant just happens to be outside!!!

A LA CARTE: The only restaurant indoors... In order to have a decent time for dinner, you need to be in the lobby daily, 8am at latest to reserve it. Food is much better there, however it also gets very boring, especially after 2 weeks. \

Best Italian restaurant in town was "PRIMA", highly recommended...if you get bored with the resort food, which you probably will.

Had the entertainment and the food been better, I would give it 4 Stars, however at this rate it's a 3-Star at best.

We stayed at El Coz from Dec. 30 to Jan. 6 and in spite of a few days of really windy, cool and rainy weather, we had a good time. Check in was quick and easy. Greeted with a fruity drink and a room in the south tower- 1915. Our bellman was pleasant and knowledgeable. The resort was clean and easy to navigate as it was not too large. The pictures are very representative of the resort. The beds were noticeably firm, even with an egg crate topper, but surprisingly sleeping was fine. The food was pretty much what we expected from reading the reviews in terms of the buffet- but there was always something so we never went hungry. The ala carte restaurant was superb every night except New Year's Eve, when there was apparently a reservation/service snafu that resulted in some unhappy revelers; we went with the flow and were not bothered that we waited for 90 minutes to get seated and begin eating. Otherwise the 5 nights we ate there were as good as most upscale restaurants in the U.S. We would easily have expected to pay 70 or more per meal for the two of us at home. The resort activities seemed to be well attended, but other than the resort course scuba one morning, we opted out of most. The New Year's Eve party was not our cup of tea as it was focused on preteens and kids dancing around on stage, while the rest sat and watched. We would have liked a live band and more dancing. The drinks were fine and the bartenders would give you whatever you wanted. Luis was great at the Banana Bar. By the end of the week he knows exactly what you like and when you will want it. Housekeeping was spot on- bottled water, and clean towels- always ready before noon, even if the do not disturb sign hangs out til 10. Antonio was pleasant at the dive shop, and all the lobby and beach staff were friendly. The beach was as described but there was a lot of sea grass after the storm. The beach workers carted it off for three days straight. Check out was no problem either; we grabbed a cab to the airport and there were numerous shared vans organizing groups. The resort is close to town and an easy drive if you rent a car- taxi is 5 dollars each way. Things I would like to see: A good map of the resort and activity chart handed out at check in, weather postings updated daily in the lobby, a shuttle to town esp, in the evening, a fish chart posted so people will know what they are seeing when they snorkel, a dinner seating at around 6-7. In my opinion 5 -5:30 is too early and 8-9:30 is too late, esp. if you intend to take in the shows on Mon., Wed. and Fri evenings.

Our family of 4 stayed at El Cozumeleno from Dec. 25th to Jan 1st. We have been to other parts of Mexico and found the people of Cozumel to be the friendliest. As soon as we arrived we had a no hassel check in and our luggage was taken to our 9th floor ocean view room. It was a perfect view! The beds were typical Al beds, but usually we are so zapped from swimming and sun that we sleep just fine.
The staff was amazing and most spoke decent english. Yes, the pool was cold, but the ocean water was about 78 degrees and beautiful. We brought our own snorkel equipt. and had a blast snorkeling. My son saw rays, an octopus and found many conch shells. We went on the family sunset cruise and it was great. There were about 15 of us. Harvey, the fire dancer, was worth every penny we paid for the cruise. The kids really enjoyed it.
We did go out to eat for dinner quite a bit. We like to try different places. Pancho's Backyard is amazing. The Lobster House is wonderful. We ate there twice. It is cash only. Make sure you bring enough or you will get a scooter ride back to the hotel to get the money like my husband did!
Cozumel is a blast and El Cozumeleno is a wonderful place where everyone can relax and the kids can have fun with no worries.