Where to begin?

I decided to take my first abroad trip with my fiancee. She stayed at what was named the Reef Club (now the wyndham) 3 times. All of which were before the huricane. She told me about the beautiful beaches, great food and service (the manager drove them out around the island for free), good drinks, and awesome shows every night. The place has completely changed. Furthermore, I must make known we stayed here through an RCI exchange.

The trip starts off with us checking in to people who were not friendly at all and seemed irritated to help us. When we get to our building, you can smell sewage outside and in. The sheets on the bed had what appeared to be a human stain. Then the bathroom... The shower curtain and walls had mold growing on them. There was no hot water. And there were little bugs that were infested on the walls and bed.

We reported the problem and one of the desk people told her friend that all the rooms in that building don't have hot water. So they knew about the problem and still didn't move us. It's slow season so the place was only at 40% capacity. If there's good service, you should avoid issues ahead of time. So if anyone plans to go here, especially if you are trading within RCI. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT STAY IN THE NUMBERED VILLA BUILDINGS! They are absolutely awful, dirty, and smell like sewage. Stay in the adult only Sabor section or in the Regency buildings. All of which have a name, i.e. san fransisco, baracuda, etc.

There is no longer a real beach at the reef club. There is about a 10 foot wide stretch of sand, but once you hit water there are jagged rocks and coral. You can't wade into the water without something on your feet or you will be cut.

Now the food and drinks were the ultimate low point. Our first dinner I ordered beef tenderloin with garlic mashed potatos. I recieved a tiny flank steak that was overcooked and tough, along with instant whipped potatoes with two alien like atennas stuck on top for some kind of pretend fancy presentation. We finally complained enough to be allowed into the adult only restuarant at Sabor thinking it would be decent. Same crap just asian. frozen chicken pieces that were mostly bread and then fried and covered with sweet and sour sauce. The alcohol was either watered down or changed. If you order sapphire, you recieve mr bostons that was snuck into the sapphire bottle. If you order absolute, same deal. Even wierder was the plastic cups they put into some cleaning solution. They then take them out and put your drinks into them without rinsing off the solution. So you now have a beer that tastes like soap or a gin and tonic with an awful twist.

By the way, the awesome shows that were on once a day when they were still the Reef Club? There aren't any. They now just play a movie once a night. They did do a 3 hour block of karaokee. I guess I can give them credit for that.

To top it all off, I asked the service guy Jimbo, who we purchased the chichen itza tour from (by the way, not worth the money. It starts at 6 am and you dont get back till 10pm.), where I could buy a real cuban cigar on the island. He said they sell them on the resort and brought back a cohiba limitada torpedo. The wrapper felt toothy, but he insisted it was real. I bought it for 1500 pesos. Of course, the moment I got back to my room and lit the thing it was obviously fake. I called him out the next day and couldn't look me in the eye. He never apologized either.

Overall, we still managed to have a good time since it was warm, sunny and some fun places downtown. But I would never go back and do not waste money for an all inclusive experience this poor. I hope I help someone from making a bad mistake. PS. I plan to post some photos of the Moldy shower and other things. I will also post a few other ratings of places we went to that actually were really good and fun: Albertos restaurant, Havana Club Cigar Bar and Fat Tuesdays.

PLEASE spend your money elsewhere, this place is not worth it. My husband and I went for a friends wedding and a getaway, and I wish I had never gone. We could not get reservations for dinner most nights so we had to eat at the buffet (which served the same food over and over). We stayed in the adults only section, but some of our friends did not so they were not allowed to come over and visit us, unless they wanted to pay $70 a day (per person) more to come and use our pool!!!??!?!?!?! CRAZY! Also we checked out early, and because they had already charged us for our entire stay they had to refund us for 3 days. It took me 4 months and dozens of phone calls to get my money back. Finally I had to hand it over th the authorities at the credit card company.

Overall I hear Wyndham is not usually this bad, but I will be avoiding ALL of their hotels in the future. Please don't make the same mistakes as me! The AURA next door to the Wyndham is the hotel we moved to. The front desk wanted to charge us an extra $80 a night to upgrade, but I booked online from our Wyndham hotel and it was only $30 more a night. They have 24 hr room service, much better food and drinks, and I had no problems with the billing through them.

We loved our honeymoon in Cozumel. It was much more than we expected! Both of us have been to Cancun and not really impressed with our stay. We were looking for a very laid back experience and definatly found it here at the Wyndham. We booked our trip on EXPEDIA and opted not to add on the shuttle service to and from the airport as well as a rental car. GOOD CHOICE! There was a bus going to the Wyndham anyway that we just used- they knew we were coming. Don't get sucked in by the time share salesmen at the airport- just keep walking by them.

When we got to the Wyndham, they upgraded us to SABOR- the adults only sections- since it was our honeymoon. The rooms were beautiful (a little renovation work going on but November is the off-season so deal with it!) Our second night, they decorated our room with 'bride and groom' swans made out of our towels and flowers all over the room- it was amazing! Each night, there was something special in our room- they really made our honeymoon special.

We loved the staff and the front desk can help you with anything you need. We did elect to go on the time share tour in order to get a cheap Jeep Wrangler to drive. It was a good presentation and we would have totally bought a package if we weren't just getting off paying for a big wedding. The sales rep, Steve, was really cool and didn't put any pressure on us.

Definately check out all the restaurants in the resort, especially Mosiaque. We ate there everyday and loved it each time! The waiter remember us and the fact that my husband loves Mai Tai's! Very impressed.

If you make it off the resort- go to Coconuts if you like a 'anything goes' kind of place. The food was great! Rent a Jeep, the beaches are better on the east side of the island.

It didn't bother us that we didn't have an ocean view room. The fact you could swim up to your patio or slide down the slides to the swim up bar was well worth it!

We will be back soon!!

October 25-Nov 1st 2008 Just wanted to say that for the price it was ok. This is not a luxury resort, so if you are looking for a rustic vacation it is acceptable. The food was hit and miss, some days really good other days I am sure it was recycled. The resort was ony 30% full when we were there so no lineups, but not all services were available. The rooms & resort need maintenance done. The room we had was in the Reef club and was very nice, other people in our party had the regular rooms and they were not impressive. Service was good as long as you tipped. one day we forgot to leave the maid a tip and she never cleaned or gave us any towels.

So ok as long as you are not expecting a luxury vacation.....keep your expectations low and you will be ok.

We would not re-book this resort, but many people we met there had been coming back for years, so I guess it is all what you are used to.