We stayed at the Hotel Cozumel for seven nights in early March. I had low expectations, and they were met. You are better off renting a cheap hotel in town and going out to eat and to the nearby beaches.

The following is the low down on the hotel in my honest opinion:

Facilities:
The grounds are beautifully kept and well manicured. The pool area is nice enough, but there is NO hot tub. The first day of our stay, it was a “lukewarm tub” – but it went downhill from there. There also are no jets and the water was murky. The “beach” is man-made and in the late afternoon there were many, many sand fleas. By the end of our trip, I refered to it as “flea beach”. The snorkeling at the resort was good, but beware of boats coming into the dock and slippery steps.

The hotel snorkeling gear is crap – leaky, nasty chewed up mouth-pieces, pinchy ill-fitting flippers. Bring a quality set from home to use on your trip – the money will be well spent.

The rooms are the same quality as one would find along an interstate highway, like a $39/night Motel 6. The walls seem to have recent paint (a sloppy job, I might add). They also used the same paint on all the lamp bases. Of the six drawers in the bureau, we were able to open and use 2 – the rest were inoperable. The in-room AC units were terribly loud – almost as though they were powered by twin jet engines. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise – read more to find out why.

The walls were thin and we heard entire private conversations - the guy next to us liked to sing to his children about his underpants - I kid you not. This really is an astounding feat of engineering, since the hotel seems to be constructed of concrete blocks.

Food:
I am a trooper. I have eaten a lot of bad food in my day and have traveled extensively so I have low expectations for ‘non-American’ food, but this stuff was the worst. Breakfast was OK – there was usually enough to pick from that I could sustain myself through the day. Lunch was progressively worse – "chicken" nuggets and gristly hamburgers at the pool-side snack bar (one burger had a giant hair in it). Dinner was hit or miss. If something wasn't consumed at dinner - surprise surprise - it was on the breakfast buffet! DO NOT STAND IN LINE FOR FAJITAS – NOT WORTH THE TIME COMMITMENT.

The best food item we found was the guacamole. But, for some strange reason, it was nearly impossible to get any. We had to ask for it at the snack bar and risk the evil glare from the snack bar staff lady (she is truly the grumpiest person in the service industry – by far). It was almost as if she was channeling the Soup Nazi - "NO GUACAMOLE FOR YOU!"

The fruity cocktails were tasty, but lacked consistency because the bartenders “hand crafted” every.single.drink. Hotel Cozumel – I beg of you – invest in a slushy drink dispenser!!!

Staff:
They are a hard-working bunch and will respond when addressed respectfully (with the exception of the previously mentioned snack bar lady). They were very friendly and cordial and loved to play with our six-month-old daughter.

Entertainment:
The daily poolside entertainment drove me crazy – bingo, wisecracking jokes, etc. It was so loud and obnoxious I was willing to deal with flea beach to just get away from it!

The evening entertainment was no better – the kids try hard but its just not that great. It’s also very, very loud. Thank god we had the jet engine AC system for white noise – my daughter needed her sleep – and we needed a break from the incessant, pounding noise!

This was our 3rd. trip to Cozumel, we were there from Jan 9-16, 2005. We travelled with a group of 45 Scuba Divers from Toronto, Canada.

I'll start with the diving, the boat dives are excellent. The dive operator Aqua Safari and Dive Paradise are both very good. Cozumel is known for its Drift Diving.

Shore Diving is good, however exits can be difficult especially if the water is rough (choppy). Last year they had installed a metal ladder which was great, but they hadn't replaced it. During our stay they did install a couple of small ladders, but they were flimsy and I doubt they would last more than a few weeks.

The rooms are okay, although the bathtub and fixtures need an overhaul. On this trip the hotel was full, which only amplified the hotels weaknesses.

The grounds were not as neat and tidy as weve experienced in the past. Trying to get an outside line (the hotel has 10 outgoing lines). Even though we never got an outside line, we discoved when checking out that they charged "our attempts" to our room. They front desk would not listen to reason so we asked "repeatedly" to get the manager... we had NO intention of paying for a service we never received. Once the manager reviewed the situation he promptly removed the charges.

For some reason, they abandoned the buffet style and tried a la carte service. They were already under-staffed and this only made matters worse. On our two previous stays at the hotel (has undergone a number of name changes) the food wasn't great either. This year they somehow found a way to make the food even worse. The food was in a word... bad!

In our group of 45 divers, 15 fell ill (montezuma's revenge). We suspect it was improper food handling.

Breakfast for example had some buffet style item available but constantly ran out of food. For made to order eggs, there was only one cook at a single station. The line-ups were always long.

On a positive note "some" of the wait staff were very good and hard working. Although some needed an attudtide adjustment. When you sit down at a table you shouldn't have to call a waiter over to pour you a cup of coffee or ask for milk or cream.

Aside from the food issues everything else was at best... average. This hotel has the potential to be so much better with a little tweaking here and there.

What has us coming back year after year... the scuba diving!

Well, I've always believed that doing your research pays off. Prior to my trip to Hotel Cozumel, I perused through the various reviews listed on this website---and thank goodness I did because my friend and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Of course, we knew the food would be sub-standard (as with many all inclusives that are 4 stars or less in Mexico). So we opted for the non-inclusive package (just hotel and airfare) and trust me, it was the best decision we made! The Hotel is about a 12 minute walk away from the downtown core filled with a variety of great restaurants. We suggest, La Choza (authentic Mexican), Mission House, Rock n' Java (for breakfast in particular), Naviageante (seafood), and Acuario (very romantic setting and great presentation of food). As such, the food in Mexico was excellent--choosing quality over quantity from the bland buffet tables of a hotel resort is my best advice to you. Generally speaking, I found the hotel to be clean, friendly service, nice environment, great pool area and excellent for snorkelling....the water by the man-made beach (not necessarily the ideal) was crystal clear and turquoise in colour--wow. The steps down to the actual ocean made snorkelling so much easier (I didn't struggle with the fins/flippers like I usually do) and the schools of fish are right there! Unfortunately, the walls are far from being sound proof so I suggest you bring a pair of earplugs (believe me, they work). We asked for an 'oceanview' as an upgrade for $10USD per night...yes, we saw the ocean but we also were exposed to the main road (which is not necessarily a bad thing but it can be noisy at times). The bed is rock-hard, despite the eggcrate mattress....I guess a hard bed is a benefit to those with bad backs?? In short, I think Hotel Cozumel is great for the value, with the proviso that you do not spend any money on going all-inclusive....get quality and value from dining out. Enjoy!

Just returned from a week all-inclusive stay. Here are some of the issues we had with Hotel Cozumel--

1. The food was generally bad. The first night they made fajitas to order--one at a time. The line was so slow that everyone was fuming. The tastless fajitas were not worth the wait. Entres from the menu arrived after about an hour and half wait, and were cold. Throughout the week the food was generally cafeteria quality and tasteless.

2. The hotel does not have a beach. The beach at the 'beach club' is a small man-made area with limit views thanks to a corny wedding gazebo planted in the middle. Even finding a decent lounge chair was difficult, thanks to the limited number and people saving seats.

3. The 'entertainment' was annoying. The same people that run the towel hut during the day provide the entertainment. They are hard-working, no doubt, but I found them to be a constant annoyance. They chatter over a loud speaker thoughout the day (encouraging people to play volleyball and bingo) making impossible to relax by the pool. From 8-10pm, they put on incredibly loud shows right in the middle of the hotel courtyard making it impossible to go to bed early. (Go to bed early on vacation you scoff... try not to after snorkeling and sitting in the sun all day!)

4. Drinks--the frozen type you like to enjoy on vacation--were also made one at a time in a blender. (Buy a margarita machine for pete sake!) I have no idea how people could be drunk from these drinks... I never once felt a buzz. I guess they stuck with beer.

5. Rooms were clean generally, but well worn. The bathtub was resurfaced and peeling. The water didn't drain. Our air conditioner sounded like a 2-stoke engine and when we turn the air off we could still hear the neighbors.

6. While somewhat close to town. A taxi was $5 to town and at least $10 to a decent beach.

Only scuba divers should consider this hotel, though I would not recommend it. There was great snorkeling, and many fish, right in front of the hotel.