My wife and I traveled with 2 other couples as part of a large contingency from Wisconsin. (Over 120 people in our group!) We arrived on Feb. 9, departing on the 16th. We have never had a more wonderful resort experience.

From the great reception we received, to the staff, the rooms and the beautiful setting, we could not have asked for a better week.

When we arrived (about midnight, ugh!), we sat down to a much-needed buffet meal, and were treated very nicely as guests. Cocktails and beer were offered, and being from WI, they were not turned down! Jose Manuel was a great waiter, and I swear, we saw him at all 3 meals everyday. After a personal escort to our rooms, we spent the rest of the evening in the disco, where the bartenders were top notch! The music was loud and the place was fun.

Many people have complained about the pool(s) being too cold, but the initial shock wears off very quickly. It seemed that there was always something happening in or at the pool, whether it was a dance contest, volleyball, water polo or scuba practice. The "Star Friends" were a great group of young people that were always trying to get some kind of activity started. But they were never pushy about it, so life still went on at your own pace. The pool bartenders (at the swim-up bar) made some killer drinks. Ronaldo and Andres were friendly and knowledgable. If you wanted something they didn't know how to make, they were very willing to learn. Janeth was a sweetheart also. She brought us drinks, always with a smile and a great attitude. My only complaint would be the lack of "name brand" liquor and beer. (This seems to be a consistent issue throughout the resort, except fopr the Tequila in the Mex. restaurant.)

The entertainment was fun, if not a little corny. Again, the "Star Friends" did a nice job bringing the audience out of their shells, and involving them in the shows. Guga and Cait were very much fun, and Luis, Pastor and Frank added some awesome personality to the shows. If you do visit them at a show, be sure to move right up front to take a picture; you'll enjoy the experience!

As mentioned by many others, the beach is nice and sandy, but the entry into the water can be a little treacherous, without something on your feet. Water shoes or sandals are recommended, due to the exposed coral and rocks from earlier hurricane damage. It's worth it to snorkel in the shallows around the pier, because there are many different species of fish to see down there. Kids and adults alike (me included) were fascinated by the diversity of the fish and plant life. The lounge chairs were plentiful, and there is enough shade for people who may not take to the sun well. There is a bar at the beach to save some walking back to the pool area, but it closes early. A restroom is also very conveniently located.

Now the food...

While the food was not gourmet, it was plentiful and there were many different dishes to offer. I found breakfast to be the best, with made-to-order eggs and such, but the Mexican restaurant's lunch buffet was much better than the grill palapa. (Apparently, it was not well-known that they served lunch there, but our travel guide clued us in on it. Thank Vicky!) They also offered many different types and brands of Tequila, so don't be afraid to ask. We did not have dinner at the Mexican restaurant, so I cannot comment on others' reviews of it. (See below.)

However, the steak house was good, but not great. I had a rib eye that was very thin, but tasty. The salad bar was good and the desserts were awesome. My wife's filet of tenderloin was good, but a little overdone. She could have sent it back, but she was not as particular as I might have been. Overall, we felt that the place was more than adequate.

because we could not get a reservation at the Mexican place for dinner (we waited too long during the week), we had "overflow" seating at a restaurant in the disco. That meal was the best sit-down meal we had at the IB. The seafood was great and the service was outstanding. I don't know if you can just "reserve" a table there or not, but it might be worth it to ask the reservation concierge.

Overall, we were extremely happy with our vacation. The resort was very clean, the fun offered by the staff was outstanding and the food and drink was plentiful. If you would leave here and not be happy, based on our experience, I would have to say it was your own fault.

My mom and I stayed at the Iberostar Cozumel Feb 11-17th, 2008. We are non-divers, so we went purely for the beach/fun/sun experience. However there is a dive shop on site and they give lessons in the pool everyday. The resort is about a 20 minute ride from the Cozumel airport. Upon arriving at the resort, we were greeted immediately with juice cocktails and checked in fast. A bell hop gave us a ride to our hotel room in a cart, and helped us up the stairs with our bags. The rooms are not huge, but that didn't matter much to us. The beds are hard, and the pillows are small, as other reviews have said. But everything was clean, and the bathroom was nice. The only problem that we had with the room was that there was a sewer smell coming from the shower drain during the busy parts of the day (early am and evening). We called to request to be moved, but then just decided to live with it since it would come and go and we weren't in the room alot anyway. It definitely didn't ruin the vacation! The resort is gorgeous. The landscaping is perfect. I saw a gardener one day, so meticulous, with hand shears getting longer blades of grass around a flower bed. The parrots, flamingos, and lizards are fantastic. We had to get to the pool very early in the morning to reserve our chairs, otherwise we got chairs on the beach which was also very nice. The beach is rocky, so bring water shoes. We ran into some folks who didn't know the beach was rocky and they were very upset...you can take either walk up the beach to access a sandy entrance into the water, or hop in a cab and head to San Francisco beach or Paradise beach for the day (both have shopping, food, and water activities). The food at the resort was very good, I think above average. The buffet is huggeeeee. So many options. I think we had dessert four times a day at the resort. There is a buffet next to the pool which you can eat at during the day, and then an evening buffet located in the restaurant off the lobby. There are another 3 restaurants which require reservations. We made reservations at the Mexican restaurant one night and thought it was excellent. The staff was so friendly and sweet. They are always around the pool during the day, trying to recruit people for pool games, volleyball, water aerobics, dance lessons, etc. The staff puts on a show every night in the theater. Some acts were cheesy but the shows that involve guests were hysterical. We were so lucky to be there the week that 2 radio stations from Wisconsin were there and brought country music singers Danielle Peck and Eric Church with them. Danielle and Eric put on an acoustic concert in the theater that was unforgettable. There were a number of kids at the resort and they all seemed to be having a blast. There is a shallow pool for them to play in, a sandbox with a jungle gym, and a small playroom near the pool where they would do arts and crafts. In the evenings the StarFriends would organize a mini-disco for the kids in the theater and they would sing and dance. We stopped in to watch them one night and it was adorable. All in all, our vacation was amazing, we didn't want to leave, and would absolutely recommend the Iberostar and Cozumel.

We just came back from a one week stay at Iberostar Cozumel with our two daughters age 5 and 7. My husband and I stayed at the Iberostar Tucan in playa Del Carmen last year and the whole time we were there we kept thinking that our kids would have loved it. It appeared the Iberostar cozumel was very similar so we tried that. Although I would say the Tucan was a little nicer (more lush, tropical, bigger rooms and they have monkeys!), the Cozumel resort was great too. The kids LOVED running around and finding iguanas, parrots, peacocks and don't forget the flamingos. The dock was great because there are hundreds of fish under there (including the resident HUGE baracuda) and the snorkeling was great for them since it's so easily accesible and the water is very clear. The Kids Club was great. There were not many kids when we were there but Gloria and Karina were really nice and our kids wanted to be there almost every day. They did a lot of crafts, they go feed the fish off the docks and they play with their new friends at the little playground. Every night, there is a little "kid disco" where they play a little game and win a t-shirt and they dance to songs for about 15 minutes).
The food was decent. Often the same things and by the end of the week the kids didn't want to eat much but overall, there was usually something for everyone.
We found from both of our experiences at Iberostar resorts that the staff are great. Every person from the maintenance guys to the "star friends" are very friendly.
The only bad point I would give is the access to the water from the beach is not good. It is very rocky everywhere at the edge. There is no place where kids can walk on sand to enter the water. You have to walk through 5-10 feet of sharp rocks to get to sand. The water at the edge of the beach was not clear either (brown with little bits of seaweed). However, my kids liked walking around the rocks (with shoes) and finding little seashells.
Overall good vacation and I would recomend it for families with young kids.

We had a group of nine that stayed at the Iberostar Cozumel from Feb 18 thru the 23rd.

We e-mailed the resort directly a few weeks ahead of time and managed to get rooms in the same building. We stayed in building 24. All of us had ground floor rooms. They were fine for sleeping in. Not much need to be in them otherwise.

The grounds are beautiful. The lush gardens and wildlife are a real treat to see. I did read complaints about the odor problem at the resort but we didn't have any problems in our area all week. The room never smelled musty and if it did we brought some candles.

The food was good. Breakfast was always a treat with eggs made to order and fresh waffles everyday. Lunch by the pool was okay. It never seemed to change much. There was always something to eat. Dinner was good at the buffet and at the specialty restaurants. Steakhouse was very good and the mexican restaurant was tasty too. Would have liked to be able to go to them more than once apiece.

The shows at night were always interesting and funny.

The pool area was always full of people in various stages of fun. The star team looked for people to do activities but were never pushy. The bartenders at the pool bar were patient with the guests.

The beach is very rocky. I definately would wear watershoes and enter the ocean by the dock. Snorkeling around the resort was fun if somewhat restricted. Everytime you try to venture out, there is hotel staff ushering you in. They also frowned upon you feeding the fish. The sand flea bites were a problem. Half of our group had bites after a few days. It has been almost two weeks and they are just now going away.

If I had a complaint it would be that their selection of booze was somewhat limited. Other than that I would definately go back again if the price was right.