Stayed here from 3/5 to 3/12. Here are my pro's and con's. First are the pro's. Hotel itself is in good shape and our room was nice. We were in the south tower (the newer section) on the 7th floor facing the pool/ocean. Bed really wasn't that bad/hard compared to some I've stayed at in Mexico (we go to Cancun frequently). Room service was quick and was pretty good (club sandwiches are good). Great view of the pool and ocean. Cozumel in that area has some of the prettiest calm water I've ever seen. Most of the food was better than average for an all inclusive. We didn't have any problem with breakfast or lunch. A couple of the dinner buffets were not so good but the sit down restuarant was good. I liked the Dos Equis beer over Corona any day.
Staff was very friendly as everybody has stated. Here are some cons.
There aren't enough chairs around the pool areas. My wife was having to go down stairs early (by 7:00am) because all the chairs were taken by no later than 8:00am. The pools were really cold. My biggest complaint was the noise. There was a trash chute by our room and the workers were using it by 4:00am and it was pretty loud. They were also doing some construction out in from and they were breaking up ceramic tile and throwing it into metal barrels which was real loud as well. We were awoken by this every morning at around the same time 4:00 to 5:00am.
The beach may be better than some of the other hotels right there but it's still not really a beach. It looks like imported sand/gravel. It certainly isn't like a Cancun beach or the beaches on the other side (south) side of the island. I wouldn't tell someone not to go there I just think there is other stuff out there for the same amount of money that may be a little nicer but maybe not in Cozumel. As a side note my sister and brother in law and their 2 (9 & 11) kids felt about the same. However the kids really enjoyed the kids club and the mini golf.
I also talked to some people in the north tower and they didn't have any noise problems so maybe that's the way to go. The rooms are bigger just older and not quite as newly decorated.

My husband and I stayed at the El Cozumeleno 3-1 to 3-5-2004. The hotel was very nice, we had no complaints about the condition of the hotel.
We stayed in the older section and had a very large room. It is very humid there so have you house shoes or flip flops handy if you don't like walking across moist floors. We had a decent ocean view from our room. We were on the 3rd floor so a little of our view was obstructed by palm trees. The older section (north tower) is definitely quieter.
The theme night shows are right in front of the newer section. We never heard anything, not even our neighbors. However you could open the balcony door and hear the ocean. The room stayed cool, but not ever cold; and eventhough it was thermostat controlled it never shut off.
There is no alarm clocks in the room so bring one if you need to be up by a certain time. Everyone at the hotel worked very hard. It was always clean. You would see workers sweeping the walk ways often, cleaning glass doors, and windows. They do work very hard, please let them know you appreciate them. The service is better than any you can get in the States. The best part, of course, was the unlimited alcoholic beverages. None of the drinks I had were watered down, they were all very strong, almost too strong. They can make any mixed drink you request. If it wasn't strong enough, just ask, after all it is included. The only beer they serve is XX, and it is a draft. They had many juices available, coke, sprite, and bottled water. The breakfast was great every day. Definitely try the omelets, they were great. Lunch was sandwiches, hot dogs, or hamburgers. Nothing special. We would definitely recommend eating in the reservation resturant. (Try the shrimp steak...it was fantastic, but small servings. Also the crepes.) We only ate there once and regretted that we didn't eat there more. The dinner buffet/themes were average if that. We would recommend the reservation resturant for dinner or eat in town. The beach was one of the best we saw on the northern zone. Some hotels didn't even have a beach, just a rock ledge. We took a snorkle tour on a glass bottom boat arranged thru Funjet. They were not honest, so beware. We enjoyed the tour even though we only snorkeled 2 reefs, instead of 3 (as we were told we would by the funjet rep) and they were not the reefs we were told by funjet. The tourguides were great though. We did see a lot of fish, a lobster, and a sting ray. We rented a car thru place in town.
Do NOT rent from the hotel car rental they are about $30/day higher for the same exact car. Definitely go to the eastern side of the island, it is very different than the western side. It is more secluded and less civilized. Taxi ride to or from town cost $5 for couple. Try to avoid town on Wednesday, as that day has the most cruise ships. Almost every morning you could see a cruise ship or two coming in to port from your balcony. We would definitely stay here again; we probably won't eat dinner but it was affordable enough that you can go out to eat. I hope this helps, but feel free to email any questions. Thanks!

Just returned from a week's stay at El Cozumeleno. (2/27 - 3/5) It was good, but not spectacular.

The location is great; it was one of the only resorts in the area that actually has beach access. Many of the neighboring resorts had rocky beaches, which made it difficult to enjoy the ocean.

The staff was tremendously helpful and courteous.

The food is...just okay. Breakfast was consistently good, with plenty of fresh fruit and eggs cooked to order. Lunch was almost always the same thing--half of the food was on one side of the outdoor dining area and half on the other, so you had to walk back and forth in order to get a full meal. (note: the waitstaff inexplicably freaked out on me when I tried to take silverware and flatwear out of its "designated" section into the area designated for plastic plates and forks.) Drinks are unlimited, just like the food, but they are so watered down, you could drink all day and hardly feel any sort of effects from the alcohol--and this is coming from someone who rarely drinks. Dinner was a crapshoot. Sometimes it was really good; at other times, it was best to travel into town and dine at a restaurant. Tip: if they're serving Mexican or something regional, it's a good chance you'll have good food. If they're having an outdoor "theme night" like Caribbean or Italian, steer clear--the food on the buffets ranged from ice cold to luke warm. And good luck trying to hear the people you're dining with on theme nights...the musical shows are insanely loud and overbearing.

Which reminds me of something else. We had a garden view room, facing the front of the hotel. Friends we met there had ocean view rooms, and had to listen to the outdoor entertainment (which was right below their rooms) until it ended around 10pm or so. It tended to be a little obnoxious if you were just trying to relax in your room.

By far, the best part of our stay at the resort was the experience we had with the dive instructors. My girlfriend and I had never been diving before and took a free class (offered everyday at 9am) at the hotel pool. The instructors were amazing. They realize that they're dealing with people new to diving and are very patient and helpful.
There is no pressure to do so, but if you decide to go on further dives or to become certified in diving (as we did), you could not ask for a better group of teachers. Even the people who run the dive shop (and set up fishing and snorkeling trips) are extremely pleasant and helpful.

All in all, not a bad place to stay. Just not very fun to eat there.
You could probably do better for an all-inclusive on Cozumel. Either that, or bring some extra money and plan to eat in town most of your trip.

We stayed the last week of Feb. Great staff, the resort was very clean from the beach to the rooms. Contrary to other reviews, we liked the hard beds. Although there were many guests we never had to stand in line more than a couple minutes for anything. Suggest scheduling water activities early during your stay since high winds can shut them down for a day or two. The evening buffet became tedious, mostly because the food was only luke warm. By that time we had usually eaten enough so hit the salad bar for supper. The gift store sells postcards for a dollar each, but not stamps, nor is there a mail drop. 'Suggest getting them in town where they are five for a buck, and you can put them in the mail. The snorkel tour from the resort was great, as were the theme night shows. But it did get windy enough to blow over empty chairs and the table cloths off the tables, not to mention a little bit chilly. We met a lot of very nice folks during our stay. All in all, it was a good time, the Mardi Gras parade in town was fun too.