We were very impressed with the Coral Princess. The service was exceptional, the rooms immaculate and tastefully decorated, the staff friendly and responsive, the facilities pristine and well cared-for.

Every morning we woke around 7 with the sound of birds chirping outside our window, threw on our bathing suits, and headed down to snorkel before breakfast. It was wonderful. As others have said, the proximity to an active, vibrant reef is one of the best features of the Coral Princess.

Another plus is the staff, all of whom were friendly and helpful, often going out of their way to make sure we were happy. They greeted us with fruit drinks, obtained taxis and mopeds for us, and made sure we had everything we wanted at all times. One of our favorite pastimes was relaxing on the beach after a long day of fun. The waiters would come down from the bar to bring us drinks and chat with us. They were our friends.

The staff takes excellent care of the facilities as well; the sand is always perfectly smooth and free of debris, the chairs are plentiful and clean, the towels readily available, soft, and clean. Our room was spotless; the mattress was very comfortable; the towels were changed every day (it bears mentioning that the towels are exceptional -- fluffy, soft, and snow-white). The bathroom was large and the shower enormous. Everything was just perfect.

We had dinner, breakfast, and drinks at the Coral Princess a few times. Each time the quality was superior and the quantity intimidating.

We stayed at the Coral Princess for three nights, and afterwards spent two nights in Playa del Carmen and another two in Cancun, and the entire time we kept talking about how much we missed the Coral Princess. We will definitely come back for a longer stay as soon as possible, and have recommended this hotel to our friends and family.

Good: Location, Snorkeling, Value

Room for Improvement: Front Desk Service, wait times, timeliness of maid service, towel policy

The Coral Princess is a smaller, older hotel that we found to be clean, conveniently located with great snorkeling. The food was good, reasonably priced, and room accommodations were adequate. The service in the bars and restaurants was generally quite good, but front desk service and timeliness of maid service were lacking during our stay. During our 6 night stay, our room was not cleaned until between 4 and 6 PM on three of the days, We were always out of our room by 7:30 AM with the "Please Clean the Room" sign posted all day.

There are no organized activities or entertainment offered at the hotel and there's not much to do for kids or young adults. The pools are quite small but weren't crowded during our stay. My daughter's hotel beach towel was taken from her lounge chair while she was swimming. We reported this to the front desk and towel counter, and checked back over the next couple days to see if an extra towel had been turned in. The lost towel did not turn up and we paid the $20 fee. While I understand the hotel's need to protect its property, this policy is failed and encourages guests to snatch other people's towels when theirs are taken. Furthermore, if the hotel pays $20 for these towels, they need to hire a new purchasing agent.

Prices provided by the concierge for excursions were inconsistent with reality. We inquired about an exursion to Passion Island and were told the cab fare would be $15 each way, along with admission and boat transportation at $35 per person. In fact, the cab fare was $45 r/t and admission for 2 adults and a child was $20 more than the quoted price. While the island was nice, I'm not sure it was worth the cost.

The snorkeling off the hotel 'beach' area was great. This was definitely the highlight of our stay at this property. It was not crowded, and we didn't have a problem with dive boats or other traffic in the area. We saw a large spotted ray, and always enjoyed a great variety and quantity of fish.

While we enjoyed our week in paradise, I would opt for a different hotel next time that offered more activities, amenities, and a higher level of service.

We purchased package through WorryFreeVacations.com from DFW - great deal! Everything was taken care of from transfers to room to local contact person. Words can't explain our delight for this resort; our oceanview room was immaculate, fridge and safe in-room, awesome huge shower (for two), food was extremely fair-priced, service at restaurant, pool bar, front desk was first rate. Pools were large, warm, and beautiful (one with swim-up bar and stools). Lots of lounge chairs, unbrellas, and palapas. Grounds were pristine and snorkeling at the resort was world-class. Thousands of fish (angel fish, tiger fish, sting-rays (small), flounder, parrot fish, etc.!!!). Stay fairly close to shoreline - lots of boat traffic and current (suggest snorkel vest for average swimmers). Steep ladder into water or must jump - no beach sloping into water. Crystal clear water with white sandy bottom makes excellent visibility. Again, don't go out too far because of boat traffic; also, note the boats also make large waves that crash on rocks along shoreline as you're snorkeling.

Breakfast vouchers for breakfast cover continental breakfast served to you at your table -upgrade to American breakfast (scrambled eggs in addition to fruit, breads, juice, coffee served as continental breakfast at your table) for $2US/person extra-no second trips; upgrade to full buffett for $3.50US/person (serve yourself). Terrace barbeque on Tues., Thurs., Sat. nights-pick your entree and serve yourself from bountiful salad bar (delicious). Prices very good (grouper fish @$9US/person, turf/surf @$36US/couple, etc.) for a very romantic starlight meal. Taxi into downtown for $3/taxi ea. way. Taxi to large supermarket for $5/taxi one way, then walk back into main downtown for great shopping expedition with $3/taxi return to resort.

Rooms were pristine, bed comfortable, very small balcony in standard room. But, view from our 7th floor was awsome. Note that hotel noise is bothersome during the daytime hours (cleaning, etc.) so taking a nap in the room is a challenge. This is the only complaint we had, and we're fairly hard to please. Everyone we talked to also loved the resort and had returned time after time. We will definitely go back. Even though our trip was short (3 nights), we were so rested and loved having snorkeling right outside the resort. It was truly a wonderful and romantic get away.

For the life of me, I cannot see how this hotel ever rated #11. It must be the staff sending in some revieiws. Here is what I ran into during my stay 27-29 March 08. Check-in slow, but tolerated that as I was tired. No explanation of meal plan tickets, but figured it out myself. One bottle of water in the rorom. When I asked for more I was directed to a smoke filled bar to get my own water. I refused to go there and asked them to do it, as I have a severe lung condiition. Surley attitude but finally got the water. Room, no clock, no tub, balcony you can stand on, if you don't miss your step (10") down from the room and if the sliding screen does not fall out on you. Bathroom works but alwful smell frorm mold land mildew. I suspect nothing in the bathroom was changed after hurriicane Wilma and just cleaned up. Mold does not go away on its own. I coughed both nights all night from the mold. When I went downstairs to ask a question, the girl at the front desk has on so much perfume it gagged. me.
Hospitality was somewhat lacking on most of the staff. The waiters were nice, but nobody else seemed to have manners. Clearly, the staff was not trained in hotel hospitality. Food was okay. I did not get sick from the food (just the mold), so food was okay. No clock in the room and no tub. Found a dirty towel hanging in the room the first night. Final insult was at checkout when they give you a little signed pass to hand to the doorman, so he checks to make sure you paid your bill. He did not know what to say when I mentioned the Coral Princess did not trust their guests upon departure. Also suspect their were some kickbacks to the doorman from the taxi drivers they used, as prices were $10. to the airport, $15. to the beach. This was significantly higher than a few months ago iin November.
Perhaps I did too much of a comparison to El Presidente, but I was only comparing the attitude of the staff and Coral Princess came up sadly lacking. Would I stay there again? Not on your life.