I have stayed at all inclusive resorts before and was quite surprised by how awful the food was here. It was never hot, even when served fresh off the grill. I saw what I assumed to be health inspectors testing the temperature of the food on the buffet, but there is no way their thermometers could have been working correctly.

It was also a very bland and boring menu. Everyday was the same. One day we woke up at the crack of dawn in order to make a dinner reservation at the "nice" hotel restaurant. We had to wait in line before 8 am and 9:30 pm was the earliest time available. Our meal there also was not any good. Tasteless and cold would be describing it nicely.

The fitness center has 4 stationary bicycles and 2 elliptical machines--all of which are broken.

There are 15 palm umbrellas on their beach with 4 lounge chairs each. All of these are gone by 5 in the morning. People get up that early to throw a pair of sandals on a chair and reserve it for the entire day. Then they go stand in line to book their reservation at the mediocre restaurant.--because anything is better than eating at the buffet again.

If you have read this much, then you will be pleased to know that the hotel rooms are very nice. Although, there is some sort of delivery every morning between 5:30 and 6:00 where the machinery squeals loud enough to wake the dead, but at least you don't have to set an alarm to make sure that you are awake in time to get a beach chair!

Mixed feelings on this place.

The positive things:
1. Staff. They smile from 08.00 till 23.00, and are friendly from 08.00 till 23.00. It is hardly impossible to be so friendly the entire day. In fact, it is rather a sad story, I think. Salaries of hotel staff in Cancun is only a few pesos per day, and I guess the situation is the same here. It is a palce were rich meets poor ina very wealthy environment. Give a good tip!

2. Snorkling in front of the hotel is fantastic.

The negative things.
1. You get an organge strip around your wrist, which identifies you as a guest, and entitles you to use all facilities. But then.....downtown they can also see that you are in an 200 USD/per night hotel, and you can forget any reduction. In a few occasions, the people who try to get you in restaurants down town, said: "Amigo..you are in El Cozumeleno Beach Resort, food is not good there, come and eat here!"

2. Ok..the food.....so many reviews here have already mentioned it. But remember....no buffet food is good. Food has to be eaten as soon as it has been prepared. So....it cannot be good. It is average for buffet food. But nothing compared to the food we had in Chetumal (that was great food for Mexicans prepared by Mexicans). This is food preparaed for Amercians. But don't expect anything better downtown...there you have food for tourists.

The very negative things.
1. This hotel was sold to me by a travel agency in Chetumal as a 5-star hotel. But it is a 4-star hotel!!! We paid cash at the travel agency, and therefore had it 40 USD per day cheaper. Cash means no tax for them. But because we paid upfront, there is no way to get check out early, get your money back, and go somewhere else.

2. Our room is VERY dampy. Don't ask me why. The hotel manager tried to explain to me what condensation is, and that this is normal at this place. Well...I have a PhD in science, and let me tell you...this is NOT normal. All our cloths are semi-wett, books get dampy, there is condensation on my camera, and I hope my laptop will survive. There is a layer of condense on the floor. The only thing you can do is dry it, and sleep with an open balcony door. Apperantly, not all rooms have this problem. The statement on the door to keep the balcony door closed to avoid condensation is just rubbish. First night we did this, and woke up in a room in which each tile was completely wet (and very slippery!!). I think our room has been empty for a long time.

3. To get decent food, you can go to the restaurant in the hotel. BUT....you need to make a reservation before the end of the afternoon. If you don't do this, then..sorry....no access to the restaurant. So..if you arrive in the evening on the first day...sorry..you did not book. If you book at 19.00, they will tell you that the restaurant is full. Well...that is bollucks (it was empty the entire evening).....it is just a way for them to save money.

Other comments: Loud entertainment and music during the entire day....but quiet at 22.00. Go the the northside of the beach, and you don't hear all the noise and bingos. No musquitos at the end of November.

Summarising, great place for families with kids, but not for me. Staff (waitresses) are doing a great job, but give them a tip!
BA

Prior to making our trip to El Cozumeleno, we several reviews on several different web sites. Most were positive, a few were very negative. After our stay, I would have to classify the very negative folks as being crybabies.

I was very impressed. The beach was great, and I noticed that many of the Coz hotels didn't even HAVE a beach. The service was marvelous with very friendly and helpful people available at all hours. The pool and other facilities were great.

Most of the complaints I read revolved around three issues - hard beds, watered booze, and lousy food. Yes, the beds were hard, and know what? We all slept like babies on them. The booze may have been watered (certainly not the beer!) but judging by the behavior of some of the guests, I'm very grateful it was, if it was.

The food complaint is somewhat valid. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly wonderful cuisine either.

I have one anecdote that I found very illustrative of our stay. I was up relatively early one morning sitting by the stairs to the beach drinking my coffee. The staff had just finished clearing the sand off the steps. A woman comes walking up the beach and heads for the stairs. There is a shower right next to them with a small concrete basin at the bottom of it. The basin only had about 1 inch of water in it. This woman tried to rinse her feet off in the water, then comes up the stairs, cussing about the hotel spending a thousand dollars a day to clean the steps off but can't even fill the basin for her feet.

First off, I doubt there are too many people cleaning stairs in Mexico making a thousand dollars a day. More importantly, however, is the fact that all she had to do was turn the shower on for 10 seconds to fill the basin.

The enjoyment of the hotel is what you make it.