My 19-year-old daughter and I spent five nights at the Coral Princess (July 16-20) as part of a scuba diving vacation. We were unfamiliar with the property, but stayed there on the recommendation of others in our scuba party who were staying there the same time.

The Coral Princess is located two or three miles north of San Miguel, not far from the Cozumel airport, making it very convenient for guests arriving by air. Like many other properties on the island, the Coral Princess suffered significant damage due to Hurricane Wilma last fall and repairs are still underway (for instance, one of the main guest elevators is still out of service and guests must either use stairs or a service elevator to reach rooms in the 10-story hotel).

Here are some of our observations from our stay:

CHECK IN: Fast & friendly. The front desk staff gave us a brief "lay of the land" orientation, gave us room keys, towel cards, and a lock/key for our room safe. The bell staff was very efficient in bringing up our bags and giving us a quick tour of our room. Speaking of room....

ROOM: Actually, our room was more of a one-bedroom condo including a living/dining area, a kitchenette, a good-sized bathroom and an attractive bedroom featuring two full-size beds, a dresser, a TV hutch, a desk and two closets. Both the living area and bedroom featured balconies that looked out on the Cozumel Channel and every morning we could look out the large picture windows and watch cruise ships arrive at the Port of San Miguel (while we were there at least a third of the entire Carnival fleet sailed past our balconies). The air conditioning worked great, but the TV remote control acted up the entire time (a minor problem, considering we didn't have much time to watch TV and even the TV we did watch we couldn't understand because it was in Spanish, lol).

POOL/BEACH: The pool seemed to be a gathering place for many of the hotel guests, especially for the daily "happy hour" at 5 pm when drinks were two-for-one. The pool features a swim-up bar and plenty of tables and chairs, but very little "swimming" since the water's not deep; the water's mostly for cooling off in. As for the beach, there really isn't one, except for the man-made sandy area between the pool and the hotel's floodwall. The sandy area is large enough for around 50-60 guests to lounge comfortably.

ACTIVITIES/ENTERTAINMENT: Periodically during our stay there were singers and musicians who entertained during "happy hour" and every Tuesday night there's a guest mixer that features Mexican dancers and musicians along with some friendly competition among guests (i.e., a sexy dance contest for men and a sexy dance contest for women). I'm told this contest can run the gammit from "mild" to "wild"...when we were there it was a bit on the wild side...in fact, had there been a stripper pole on the pool deck, I'm sure some of the women would have used it!

FOOD: Breakfast was the only meal we ate regularly at the CP, with the exception of one dinner for which the hotel staff prepared the fish we had caught deep sea fishing earlier in the day (excellent!). As for the breakfasts, they were very good and reasonably priced (I believe a ham & cheese omlet breakfast was priced around 480 pesos, or about $5 US. We ate most of our breakfasts outdoors where we could get a good look at the ships in the channel.

MISCELLANEOUS:

- The best way to get from the hotel to the middle of San Miguel is taxi...expect the fare to be about $5 US. Taxis are always available at the hotel.

- The Coral Princess offers a time share vacation option and is an RCI property. You can expect to be offered information about RCI and how it works while you're there (a sales office is located on the hotel's lower level).

- Internet access is available in the RCI sales office generally from 1 until 4 pm (personally, I think they should considered extending the hours because 1-4 can be inconvenient for people who are off the property most of the day).

That's about it....e-mail me, jwolz@sehosp.org, if you have questions about the Coral Princess. I'll also be posting some pictures elsewhere and I can give you a link if you like.

When we first arrived at the Coral Princess the front desk staff was terrible. We paid for a room with a refrigerator so we could keep our own drinks and snacks and they put us in a room without one. We contacted the front desk and she said they don’t promise anything and was very rude. Even though the hotel was practically empty we had to hassle them to put us in the room we paid for. Also said on our reservation we got free breakfast and they didn’t honor that either. We had another couple of guests with us who were on the 9th floor and the elevator was often broken. Taking the stairs with diving equipment and bags got old. They were doing repairs to the hotel too (which was expected) but not early in the morning!

The wait staff in the dining area was very good. They were the only ones. Food was good there and reasonably priced. The bar tending staff outside is horrible and they constantly just want money. We got to the point where we wouldn’t even hang out at the pool to avoid it. The drinks are VERY overpriced anyway.

They give you a card to get a beach towel that they will charge you $20 for if you lose it. The cleaning staff took one of our beach towels out of the room. I called the front desk and told them. Instead of believing me and replacing my towel they waited 2 days until they found it in their laundry so I was without a towel during that time. They will also charge you $100 for a missing key and $100 for a missing controller so I feel the staff should be extra careful not to remove these items but they don’t pay attention. The cleaning staff never replaces bedding and does a below average cleaning job. Also, the TV in the room didn’t work half the time.

We got suckered into a time share presentation. I wouldn't recommend you do it. They will waste your time for half a day. They are sneaky about getting you to do it, it wasn't what they initially told us it would be.

During our stay we honestly felt unwelcome and uncomfortable around most staff. We spent most of the time away from the hotel. We wouldn’t recommended it to other people

If you are looking for a beach, don't book here - the beach is either in town where the cruise ships and other boats are docked or on the other side of the island. This hotel has some stairs that lead to the ocean, which is at least 10ft at the entry point and flanked by craggy rocks. Snorkeling is good here, but there is a decent current and it can be a tough return if you go out too far. The hotel is only partially open at this point, and the elevator sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. The rooms and restaurant are average quality, but reasonably clean and well kept. Staff is friendly. Access to downtown cozumel is an easy $5 taxi ride. The restaurant is rather limited in its menu, and has prices on par with a US restaurant of like quality. Happy hour has two for one drinks, and that is really the only time you will see many people at the bar or at the tables on the deck by the pool.
The divers in our group love the hotel's dive staff and, for divers this is a good place to be. For the rest of us, there isn't a whole lot to do - there are no activities here at all - not even a volleyball net in the pool, no kayaks, nothing. If you don't dive, you can either snorkel or lay around and read.
All in all this is an average hotel. For the same price, you can go to the barcelo maya on the mainland near playa and it is all inclusive, with a beach and a ton of activities and choices. Unless you are in Cozumel to dive, you might consider a hotel with a bit more going on...

I have officially been three days back stateside from the four day, three night mediocre vacation to Cozumel. I have been to the doctor's twice in attempts to rid myself of the virus caught, most likely, at the Coral Princess. I do not recommend this place in the least for several reasons in addition to a stomach illness:

- The lady at the desk tried to convert money at a rate that was not published. When confronted, she used the computer, produced a reciept and provided us the appropriate pesos. She did not even attempt to guise her initial dishonesty.
- The elevator situation is seriously ridiculous. The two elevators do not work thereby leaving the options of the wore out service elevator or stairs. This was incredibly irritating.
- Do not try to sit on the rocks or brush up next to them as they are stinging coral and will leave welts.
- The room was not clean. I tested the sheets and they were never replaced, simply made.

The only decent compliment I have have for the Coral Princess (nicknamed "Princess Caribou") is the proximity to attractions. The close proximity allowed for inexpensive cab rides to escape the still in construction lousy hotel.