We stayed the week of July 1-8. I have been to Mexico on 3 other occasions so I had an idea that the bad reviews were from people expecting something more like they find in the US. This hotel was rated a 3 star by our funjet rep. The reason being it is across the street from the beach, and the beach was man-made. There were 8 in our party, family and friends, and everyone had a great time. We are not divers, and the hotel is geared toward divers, but that did not stop us from having a ball. The food, while deffiantly mexician, was more than adequet. We never went hungry. Breakfast was the best, and supper in the Arco Rest. was good. We ordered off the menu, and only a couple of times did not like the food. So we ate more dessert and ordered another drink! We went with the all-inclusive plan, and felt with just breakfast and the drinks it was well worth it. We spend several afternoons by the pool and we enjoyed Raymond, and his crazy "meows". The kids that put on the evening shows gave it their all, and we enjoyed watching and participating in them. My kids also enjoyed karoke every night, and I stayed up and watched them a couple of times. We all snorkled right at the hotel, and it was beautiful. We also took the jeep/jungle tour and enjoyed the snorkeling and the bbq chicken on the beach. This hotel was the cleanest, nicest and most accomodating hotel I have stayed in while visiting Mexico. The bartenders were good to my kids (all over 21) and took care of them until they closed the bars most nights. Mexico is what you make of it. IT IS NOT THE U.S. If you are open minded to fun and relaxation, and remember that you are getting a bargain, then you will enjoy your visit to the Hotel Cozumel. If you want to vacation at the Ritz, then don't go to Mexico......and yes, I got sick, but that was my own fault, you have to be careful in any foreign country...take your amodium AD, and some pepto....and get ready for some fun, sun, good "real" mexican food, and some great people that work hard.....don't forget to tip!

My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Cozumel & Resort from July 2 to July 7, 2005. The hotel was close to the town of San Miguel and was within walking distance for shopping, if you don't mind walking on uneven sidewalks that are overgrown with weeds and in some cases with very large uncovered holes. I presume that these are some sort of an attempt at drainage, but they are uncovered and what I would consider dangerous if you were to step off into them. Also the sidewalks are littered terribly and in general the walk it not that of a "romantic stroll through the streets of Cozumel" which I was anticipating. You will walk by extremes of grand hotels to homes and buildings that are in states of disrepair or abandoned.

The shopping at the port for the cruise ships was nice and had some good resturants such as Carlos & Charlies, Senor Frog's, a Subway, a Burger King and the Shrimp Bucket. We tried Carlos & Charlies and Senor Frogs. Both had good food but the atmosphere was loud with partying and music that blared-geared more toward the partiers visiting the island. Even though we were not there to party we were not offended by the drinkers or the music.

As you go on through to San Miguel you will encounter locally run shops- gold/silver shops aplenty, cigar shops, and those shops with basically the same merchandise---blankets, sombreos, t-shirts, jewelry, souvenirs, etc. The prices were pretty much the same at most of the shops. I did find that I was able to bargin with most of the vendors if I tried. Overall, I did not find bargining to be necessary because the prices were very reasonable. I did not find it necessary to try rip the locals off. Their prices were fair. The only thing that I found irritating was that at most shops there was one or more people trying to coax you in. That got old fast!

I did go to the grocery store just down from the hotel. It was like a Wal-Mart Supercenter. It had clothes, personal care items, housewares, and food. If you go there be prepared to stand in LONG lines and the service was VERY SLOW!!! Also, I paid with a traveler's check and the cashier gave me change in pesos...she shorted me $5. I did not realize it until I was outside and I thought it would be far too much hassle to try and get my money back. I don't know if it was intential or if the cashier didn't understand my method of payment. Either way, I chalked it up to experience and kept pluggin on. If you go to Mexico, make sure you know the exchange rate as you will get change back in pesos sometimes.

Now for the hotel, the facilities were okay. The check in procedure was pretty smooth. We did all-inclusive and we were asked to provide a credit card imprint for incindentials. I declined this due to the fact that there should not be incindentials on an all-inclusive. We were careful to not drink any drinks from the bar that were not included on the all-inclusive plan or order from the menu items not included. When in doubt, I asked if what I wanted was included.

The hotel food left a lot to be desired. My husband got really sick after eating rosemary chicken on the 2nd night. We were expecting more mexican foods to chose from on the buffet but we did not have those choices available to us. The food was not hot despite being under heat lamps and in my case the food did not taste like it should. Therefore, I ate very little. I even went so far on the 2nd night to order off of the children's menu and get chicken nuggets and french fries. The nuggets were absolutely horrible and I seriously wonder if it was chicken. The fries were okay. I could not eat the chicken, it was gross.

After that point, we ate our meals out excluding breakfast. I did find that the breakfast buffet had waffles/pancakes that I could get down. However, the milk was not like the milk that I drink in the US. I tried a bit of it but just couldn't go there.

Also, you will find that even the soda tastes very different in Mexico. It is sweeter, even the diet, and is definately different tasting. We only drank bottled water and never drank water that was poured in our glasses at the restaurants. Just a precaution. Depite our precautions my husband was down sick with throwing up and had diarrhea. He did not get better until the day that we left.

While he was ill, I rented a car and drove to Punta Sur to see the lighthouse on the Southern tip of the island. I did this alone and did not feel any fear about driving alone as a female. When you drive in Cozumel, you better keep up with the traffic or get out of the way. I would not recommend renting a scooter for this reason. They just looked like they could be very dangerous.

Now, back to the hotel...Our room looked like the picture on the Internet. But, if you have any allergies to mold be very careful about staying here. There was A LOT of mold in the rooms. It was in the bathroom and in the main room where the bed was. The lamp shades were rusted at the bottom where the ring went around the bottom of the shade. The bed was okay but the pillows had a smell that was not the best.

We were supplied with a large bottle of water and when we needed another we were given it also. We used this to brush our teeth with and did not rinse our toothbrushes in the tap water. Another precaution that we took to avoid sickness.

Our towels were changed everyday but the sink/tub were not cleaned daily nor were we given clean glasses daily during our stay.

The pool area was really pretty and we did go there a few times. The entertainment was really BAD! We equated it to a "bad-cheap lounge act". The dancere were not in sync and the guest singer was not very good. I would pass on the entertainment...as we did the rest of the week.

The hotel is not on the beach, but there is a tunnel that crosses underneath the main road if you don't wish to dodge the traffic to go to the beach area. Also across the street is another of the hotel's restaurants and the dive shop where you get the snorkel equipment that comes all-inclusive. You will need to get a card from the front desk to take to the dive shop to get the equipment. The man that we encountered there was very grouchy and was very short with us when the fins we asked for were too big. He obviously was having a bad day. I dismissed it at that.

The snorkeling was very cool there. As a first timer I did not know what to expect but it was cool to see the fish near enough to touch. I tried it and liked it. I would recommend it to those who like to swim.

The beach area was man-made and you will not see many of the "white sand" beaches on the west side of Cozumel. They are found on the east side, I am told. The west side is more rocky and if you do find sand it is very course.

We did take the ferry to the mainland, it cost $20 for each person, each way. I thought that was steep, but it was a nice boat and it got me where I wanted to go. Playa del Carmen was much prettier beaches, white sand an all. The shopping was just like it was in Cozumel. The prices might have been a little cheaper...more competition I guess. We did not find much to do there. We were going to go to Chichen Itza but were too late to make the long trip.

One thing that you wil be confronted with is people trying to get you to go and visit their hotels. The offer free food to money. One man at the ferry in Cozumel offered me $300 to visit the Mayan Palace in Playa del Carmen. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...I disregarded their offers. If this is your cup of tea...go for it. We just did not want to go through the hassles.

Here is a list of things that you should take...
tylenol/ibuprofen, sunscreen, sunburn lotion, pepto, immodium.

I would also recommend some sort of laxative. I encounted constipation due to the lack of food and water that I was taking in. I had the opposite problem of my husband if you know what I mean. :)

All in all, this trip was a good experience and I was returned very appreciative that I live in a country that so wonderful.

We stayed at this hotel from June 22 - 29. A wide variety of prices were found on the NET w/ alpharooms having the best. The hotel web site was a little less, but full of bugs and HTML issues. Overall, this was a good value for me and my two growing boys. We have traveled abroad thirty + times and this was my 14th trip to Mexico. We have stayed at a variety of resorts in Cozumel and Cancun. First of all, the three reviews dated June 13 and the June 24 review are very accurate. So instead of repeating them here I recommend that you read them. In addition to these reviews I have the following comments:

This resort is conveniently located within walking distance to town. Other resorts on the Island require a taxi ride fare of over $15 each way. A large "everything" store, Chedraui, is only four blocks away. A multiplex theater is behind Chedraui. A short underground passage takes you to the beach. There are minimal waves here and no sloping sand beach. However, the water is crystal clear and deep. Ideal for swimming, snorkeling and beginner SCUBA divers. For us, this Hotel's location was very good. The staff offers bike rides through town, etc. The only thing we missed was beach volleyball.

The pool and rooms did have a fair amount of slippery tile. You would never see this in the U.S. We never fell, but I am sure many have. Like many hotels the shower heads were painfully low. Our family is very tall, we are tired of the shower head issue, and we have learned to accept it. The rooms are OK, no complaints. We were on the first floor. The sliding doors faced the road. The door had obviously been forced open sometime in the past. With that in mind, I will stay on an upper level room next time. The staff constantly scrubbed the floors and walls with bleach.

The food was acceptable. Yes, most vegetables and salads were not great. However, the cut fruit was always excellent. Breakfast was great and cooked to order omelets a plus. The cheeseburgers were marginal. Numerous seafood dishes were good. Clearly, not fantastic food but when you consider the minimal all inclusive cost, this is a VERY, VERY good value. If excellent food is a must, go to a deluxe resort. Cancun Crown Paradise has great food. The cost is proportionally higher, duh!

As a former bartender I can tell you the old guys at the pool bar are not having any fun. A near constant flow of mostly loud, sloppy, demanding, inexperienced and non tipping customers will take its toll on you. Yes, I did notice that they did pour lightly for young patrons and others that had over done it.

This is really a two and one half star resort, not a four star resort as their web site implies. Traveling w/ my kids, I would return here in a second. Novice travelers and honey mooners would find this a good resort. If money is not an object don't stay here. We are able to go to this resort or a similar one three times a year or a plush resort once a year. We've made our choice, now hopefully you have the information you need to make the choice that is right for you.

Veg-all was this hotels idea of upperscaled fresh vegetables at their fancy "oceanside" restaurant. Not only was the food sub-par, but the prices were the highest of the places where we dined.

Rooms were clean, however, the first room we were assigned to STUNK, the a/c didn't work properly and it was so humid the paper in the room was damp. They initially did not want to move us to a new room so I went to the lobby, held my nose in front of other guests (to indicate the foul odor) and once again requested a different room - at that point they decided to comply.

The beds are very hard and I woke up every day with a backache. The shower heads are about 5' tall. Getting in and out of the bathtub/shower is a trick. The bathtub is built up off the ground about a foot and the tile on the floor is slick. I am 5'10" and I don't know how anyone shorter would safely get out of the shower without setting on the side of the tub. I personally would step out backwards holding onto the shower rail to prevent slipping on the tile - it was still a challenge.

Although I kept my extra cash in the hotel room safe, I still came up missing about $50.00.

The pool while large has inadequate shade, no deep end and is never refreshingly cool as they add chemicals at 8 p.m. so by the time it cools down you are kicked out. The tile near the pool is also slick so make sure you step on the concrete areas between the tiles when walking near the pool.

OK if you still decide to stay at this hotel this is what you need to know about the layout. It is a very large U. The only elevator for the hotel is at the tip of one U by the lobby - those rooms numbers end in 01. The other tip of the U room numbers end in 61. You do not want to stay in rooms that end in 01 or 61 unless you want to be eaten by mosquitoes - no matter what floor you are on. If you have any type of physical limitations stay in rooms that are closest to the elevators otherwise you are hiking through huge corridors and climbing long staircases.

While I would never return to this hotel - it is not the worst on the island so it rates above terrible.