My fiance and I went to Cozumel for Christmas this past December. It was such a beautiful hotel, I felt as if I were in heaven. My fiance spent one day out on the golf course adjacent to the hotel, and loved it. He ended up joining up with another gentleman and his son, and found the discount he (my fiance) recieved by booking his golf trip through the hotel was a pretty good deal. The staff was absolutely the best. They were so helpful and definitely helped my fiance pull off a huge surprise proposal - especially the Concierge and Matre de.
The food was good. There definitely was an abundance. As others have said, it may seem a bit bland to American tastes, but I enjoyed it. The bartenders are very friendly and the beer was so good and cold!
Next time I go I will remember some bug spray as my legs did get bit by sand fleas on the beach and I believe some of them were carried back to our room with us and got in the bed. The bed was very hard, but I understand this is the norm.
We are definitely going back, in fact planning a trip there for next Christmas with several friends.

Our group of 2 couples stayed at the el coz April 3-7th. The hotel was well maintained and clean. When we arrived, they took our bags and we began to enjoy the hot Mexican sun. Caution....the sun is extremely direct wear sunblock.

The room was adequate and clean besides someones manhood stain on the couch YUCK! However, they did a good job cleaning the basics every day. The view was beautiful.

Watch out for the car rental places in town. We rented at National Car Rental and they equiped us with a Jeep that was old and the seat was broken. Also, the gas tank would not open so we had to return it, finally after some complaining they returned our money. We did rent from the hotel people and it costed $100 for 24 hours...kind of a rip off.

The food was OK but some dishes were pretty unedible. As mentioned before the breakfast was good. We did go into town several times to have something better. I'm almost recovered from the montazomas, whatever is in that food sure effected me. Be cautious of what you eat down there, make sure the dish is cooked to death.

Service....The service was good, but as others have mentioned the lines at the bar got a little old. It would be much better if they had wait staff there to serve you. Also, tip if you want to or if it's warranted. If I have to read one more time about how poor these people are and we should tip, I'm going to scream. GIVE a tip if you want to.

All and all I wouldn't return, it wasn't bad but for a little more money we could get a much nicer all inclusive package.

My family and I traveled to the El Coz with a large group of friends. Out of the 15 families I know of only one or two that didn't have problems. About a third of us got violently ill from the food or drinks. The cleanliness is a serious issue. I am not a gourmet but the food was just awful. I have never eaten so many hamburgers in my life. (the only safe bet to eat)Several families had problems with their rooms. This included sewage and filthy furniture. I felt the staff was over worked. The bars and dining area are very understaffed. It was very hard to be served drinks at dinner...even if you tipped, and the lines at the bars were long. There were also not enough chairs by the pool. You had to be up at 5:00 am at least to reserve a chair or you were out of luck. We have been to Mexico 3 times and the El Coz is nothing like we have stayed at before. I thought the reviews I had read ahead of time were from angry unhappy guests who like to complain..but i am an optimist who can always find something good in any situation...but the only good thing here was the view from the balcony and the snorkeling and scuba diving.

My wife and I visited El Coz with friends of ours. We had adjoining rooms. The rooms were outstanding. Everything was very clean. The staff went out of their way several times to accomodate us. My wife became ill the second night there. (Mexican food you know) The staff contacted the hotel doctor who arrived within a half hour. My wife was better the next day although not in a hurry to eat the food. The chef made a special batch of chicken soup just for my wife as nothing else sounded good to her. In my opinion this is above the call of duty !! The waitstaff was extremely pleasant. One of the bartenders "seemed" a little rude but became more friendly as we joked with him. The drinks could be stronger but this is normal for all inclusive. I never felt pressured to leave tips as some others have mentioned. Actually, I only tipped when I felt it appropriate, like the chef for making the soup.
The activities were fun. The beach is a little small. We did have to get up at 6:00 AM to save chairs by the pool, but not 3 AM like someone else mentioned. We were there during Spring Break so it was extremely busy. Monday following Spring Break there were plenty of chairs available all day long.
Make sure to see Antonio in the dive shop for snorkeling on the Manta. Don't go on the Fury.
A few people to look for who gave outstanding service:
Esmerelda in the restaurant or the bars; Rene in the buffett; William in the restaurant; and the many other friendly faces who made this vacation the best ever. I've been to Ixtapa and Puerto Vallarta before but Cozumel is by far my favorite.