My wife and I stayed at Playa Azul April 18-25th. We were there for a friend's wedding. To start with arrival at the airport was easy and hassle free. The hotel is relatively close so once you get your stuff its about a 5 minute drive to the hotel.

Playa Azul is a small non AI resort, the grounds are well kept and the building is in good shape. Its taken a punch or 2 from past hurricanes but that is the case with many of the hotels on the island. The lobby is open, there is an inside bar and restaurant and an outdoor set. Inside the hotel is clean, and the smell of cleaning solutions mixes with the sea breeze. The staff is always sweeping and mopping. I observed the staff in the early morning cleaning the beach and beach chairs as well.

The rooms are basic. TV, some chairs and suitcase stands. The views are all pretty decent. Some are better, or maybe different is a better term, than others but they do all face the water. We were in room 303. The balconies were good sized with table and chairs. For the most part everything is tile and stucco and this keeps the damp, musty smell down. Its hard for any Caribbean hotel to totally eliminate that, but it was a non issue at Playa Azul. I was hoping for an in room fridge, but that was lacking. My guess is since they have a beach bar and indoor bar that is staffed, they would rather have you buy drinks there and leave tips. We did do that, but we also did not have an endless budget and I highly recommend taking a cab to the Mega in town, getting a styrofoam cooler and ice and stocking up on beer, limes, snacks and almost anything else you want or need. The Mega has it all. We spent $83 US. and had supplies to spare. We still ate and drank our share at the Azul to spread the wealth so to speak.

We did walk to town a few times, its not a short walk. Cabs or rental cars are a must if you easily want to access town and leave the north end. The north end is quiet and you get away from the crowds and hassle. A quick trip by vehicle gets you into the action.

The beaches on the north end are mostly man made, or iron shore beaches. They are somewhat rocky. Here's the plus and minus part. The plus side is, the water is absolutely beautiful. At Playa Azul the beach is small and there are some rocks to deal with getting in and out of the water. Once you get in you can walk out on flat sheets of rock and easily get to deeper water. There are areas that have white sandy bottom and you will feel like you are in a swimming pool. I used the pier and jumped in a lot. There are plenty of photos of the beach here so you can get a good idea of what to expect. I really like the beach. I guess the negative is you can't run right from the sand into the water and splash. The plus side is the rocks make for good snorkeling. Crystal clear water is a huge selling point for me. Skip 2 resorts north and look at the Melia's murky water. I'll take the Playa Azul beach over that any day. Also note some north end resorts like the Coral Princess don't have a real beach at all. They have a sand area but you have to actually climb down to the water and you are already in over your head. The beach at Playa Azul spreads beyond the resort so you can go to either side and get a little different version.

The service at the hotel is good. The breakfasts were free and pretty enjoyable, buffet style. The staff leaves you alone unless you ask for something. I really like the Mexican culture. The people are very polite, and enjoyable.

My only gig on this resort is that it seemed to be a tad on the expensive side. We did fly direct into Coz which made our trip more expensive, but the hotel itself was similar to the basic style hotels we stay in in Playa Del Carmen. Its not way over priced, but its not budget Mexico. We also enjoy the Virgin Islands and have hit Mexico because of savings. This trip brought us close to the price range of the rest of the Caribbean.

We would certainly go back to Playa Azul however.

The dive shop is great. Sherif and Pablo are very experienced, confident instructors and safety is always first.

Safety and security was a non issue. The in room safes were good, the resort had security at night, and we even had trouble getting the maid to take the tip we left her the first morning. We had to slide the money into a more obvious spot and put it on a paper saying "Gracias" the next morning before the money was taken.

Go and have a great time!!!!

I have visited MANY hotels on the Island (stayed in a few besides Playa Azul) and come to Coz once or twice a year since 1997. Playa Azul is the BEST Hotel on the Island for everything I want including:

-Ocean views
-Direct walk out from room to beach (no elevator, chilly hallways in wet swim suits) if you get a first floor room
-Small
-Quiet
-Personal attention from staff
-Good snorkeling from hotel
-Sandy Beach AND rocky areas to see all sorts of sealife
-NO Poolside music

...we got remarried under the pergola at sunset on our 10th anniversary (April 17, 2009). It was stunningly perfect. We had a drink at the beach bar after (thanks Marcial, Kermit and Filippe, who are always ready with a smile and a cold Sol or Kahlua Colada).

Breakfasts at Playa always come with your stay; Carlos or Juan always made sure I had my milk (with ice - don't laugh) before I even sat down.

Lunch at the Beach club or restaurant (great cheeseburgers, club sandwiches, guacamole).

It's quiet at night, you get to enjoy the Sunday Salsa lessons and music at the Beach club next door, and you can always get a chair at the beach.

Snorkeling is wonderful, no need to travel from the hotel to see lots of Baracuda, pufferfish, a few squid, needlefish and much more...

We have seen dolphins a few times from the shore, and pelicans that fish right at the waters edge.

There is no musty smell in the rooms; I am allergic to mold.

The only thing Playa needs is an outdoor Hot Tub.

Playa Azul was exactly what we were looking for . My husband & I ( in our late 30's) and my parents ( age 60's ) stayed at this resort. My husband and I have vacationed in Mexico 7 times prior, this was our 1st stay in Cozumel. We have previously stayed at All Inclusive and European style resorts. We do not scuba or golf. We choose to vacation in Mexico for the great weather, beautiful water, nice people, snorkeling, and intriguing ruins.

We chose this resort based on the great reviews on TA, fit our budget, proximity to town, beautiful views from rooms, and relaxation. What we liked most about this resort is the staff are the friendliest we have ever encountered and are very accomodating. All the staff work very hard and are to be praised. The resort is very clean and maintained well. I believe all the rooms have some kind of ocean view. We loved the relaxed atmosphere- but of course San Miguel is close to find a party/action. We snorkled at the resort and enjoyed swimming in the ocean and pool. Breakfast was very good. We had lunch several times at the resort and it was very good as well. We usually ate dinner in town every evening. We had purchased a cooler from a grocery store in town and requested a bag of ice from the bar- no problem. Beach towels are provided. plenty of parking for our rental car. ATM at the Melia Resort north of Playa Azul came in handy.

The resort is located conveniently for all the different ineterests in our group. My husband likes to snorkel, swim, hang out in town. Mother enjoyed taking the ferry to Playa Del Carmen and hiring a cab driver for the day to see the Coba and Tulum ruins (Taxi driver 120 USD for the day). Stepfather enjoyed site seeing driving around the island. I enjoyed relaxing and sunbathing.

Cozumel is very safe. We usually don't stay at the same resort twice but plan on returning to Playa Azul next year because we enjoyed our stay so much. We Also plan of finally learning to scuba dive. This vacation was special because we brought my parents with ( once in a lifetime trip together). Thanks to all the staff at Playa Azul for making this vacation special.

My husband and I stayed here from March 6 – 12. This was our second trip to Cozumel, and we stayed at the Iberostar the first time, so we were eager to try a non-all inclusive hotel, and get out a little more. From the moment we walked into the lobby we felt at peace. The hotel’s décor is beautiful and quiet. Check-in was very easy, and within minutes we were in our room.
I had decided to splurge on a master suite, and we were so happy! We had the top floor room with vaulted ceilings and a fantastic view. The upgrade cost us $95 a day, but we were able to have double the space, with a couch, two chairs, extra window, Jacuzzi tub on the balcony, robes and slippers. We were able to keep the slippers, but left the robe (no clue how much that would have cost.) To us the room does make a difference because we spend a lot of time there on the balcony, and we felt like we had complete privacy. We were able to see into some of the other rooms – they looked identical to ours minus the living room area. The Jacuzzi tub was nice – I only used it once, but it was a thrill to be taking a bath outside, listening to the waves crash and watching the cruise ships go by.
The room was never musty smelling. It had a great closet, safe, separate sink area from the toilet/shower area. The housekeeping staff was fantastic – that room stayed spotless – they even swept the balcony daily and picked up the beer cans. The coffee was excellent, and they provided plenty of large bottles of water. We requested a mini-frig when we checked in and it was waiting for us when we got back from lunch. It took a couple of days to actually get cold enough, but we were grateful to have it.
The restaurants were good. I am still missing the breakfasts! We ate a couple of times at the beach club next door – very convenient because you can charge to the room from there. I really liked the hotel’s cheeseburgers (for some reason I really wanted a cheeseburger!) We never had a problem getting service or being denied anything – we even got a whole bag of ice before we went to the east side. The only problem we had was at the gift shop. My husband bought cigarettes there daily, and the price changed every day. I tried to argue with the lady what the price was the day before, she was adamant about the cost. They were horribly overpriced anyway, so we found a convenience store on the edge of town and got a supply.
We enjoyed our stay there immensely. It was very quiet, yet with the beach club next door, it could be lively at times. It suited us perfectly!