Overall, we liked the Occidental Grand, and we'd go back. For the price it was about what we expected.

(Just for your reference, we don't really drink much alcohol, so I won't comment on the bars.)

The Good: We walked the beach and looked at many other hotel beaches and the Occidental definitely has the best beach of those we saw.

The room was very nice-- the air conditioning was always cool, the shower was wonderful, and the bath gel and shampoo smelled great. (Bring your own conditioner- none is provided.)

We ate at the pizza restaurant and the steakhouse, and both were very good. We liked the steakhouse best-- the atmosphere and service were great and the chocolate dessert was fabulous! Regarding La Possada buffet, there were always delicious fruits and cheeses. (Try the mini bananas-- yum!) The guacamole was plentiful, and tasty. The cheesecake dessert was light and delicious.

There was a fire show one night and it was absolutely incredible.

The maids were considerate and detail oriented; we really appreciated their service.

The "vacation club" presentation is nearly impossible to avoid, but the presentation was actually pretty fun and we didn't feel any undue pressure. The guys will offer you discounted tours and/or a free rental car to attend the presentation. You can negotiate some good free stuff if you hold out long enough.

The Bad: The Beach Club food was awful to me, and it was the only restaurant open for lunch. There were few healthy choices there, and almost nothing tasted good. That was by far the worst part of this resort.

The shows were sometimes fun, but sometimes quite painful to watch.

The workout room had decent equipment, but was very, very warm (which could be good if you're trying to sweat off some weight!)

Advice: Make sure you get to meals early for the best quality and selection. The meal service closes earlier than posted (for instance, lunch is supposedly served from 12-4:30, but by 3 it's pretty much ravaged, and completely cleaned up by 4.)

We rented a jeep one day and a scooter another. The scooter was much more fun for us, but drive carefully. We were advised of two scooter accidents while we were there.

If you go to the other side of the island, you will find soft sand beaches with big waves. The Playa Bonita was our favorite beach-- there were big waves and very few rocks. It was the BEST part of the trip for us and is not to be missed!!!! Use lots of sunscreen there; we didn't burn at the resort, but we both got burned on the Playa Bonita so be careful.

Have a wonderful vacation! We came back very relaxed and refreshed.

Stayed at the OGC on 31st May 2008 for 2 weeks, we went with First Choice and chose to upgrade on flight, service was fantastic. When we arrived at hotel, we learnt the hotel had also upgraded our rooms to the Royal Club. Wow! best rooms and facilities. Unfortunately, we arrived to a tailend of a tropical storm, which lasted for the first three days so we hit the bars.
Staff were very friendly and hotel grounds were immaculate, the hotel layout was good, the only thing I missed was seating areas around the poolside bars.
Buffet restaurant was good, A La Carte's were good and we did eat out a couple of times. Loads over restaurants to choose from in town which is a short taxi ride and costs about £8 each way.
Lots of people from the States and Canada come here as it is a short flight so the hotel has a very high turnover, you tend to pick up on some of their phrases like awesome dude and high five, which people in our party decided to emphasize throughtout our holiday. Everyone generally polite and friendly, met a few nice couples, especially Richard and Hayley(Gavlar fans)to whom I say Hi!
Cozumel Island is beautiful and there are things to see and do, I would recommend to hire a jeep to explore, you feel safe compared to some places we have been to. The locals are friendly and always available to help if you need it.
Downtown San Miguel is fun for all, even when the young Americans come from their cruiseships to party at senor frogs, by the way, you have gotta go and see people get off their faces, also, it does get you in the party spirit(even at tea-time).
Lots of shops for the usual soveneirs, my husband even had a tattoo whilst we were there.
Would I go back? 100% YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had a wonderful stay at this hotel. Just got back from a fortnights stay.

The standards of cleanliness and tidyness are extremely high. We did not stay in the Royal Club, only in the standard rooms which were more than comfortable. We had asked for a room with a kingsize bed, but unfortunately that didn't happen. It was no big deal though and we were perfectly happy in the room we got (room 21 in block 15). There wasn't loads of storage space, but I honestly didn't think it was as bad as other people have made out. We managed to put all our stuff away. We took a few of our own coathangers which I would advise everyone to do. That solves a lot of your storage probs!

The entertainment was very varied. The weekly fireshow was good and well worth a watch but the 'beach party' that came after was a bit cheesey. I loved the Disney Show, thought it was really good and obviously a lot of work and rehersal had gone into it.

The food in the buffet was great at breakfast (apart from the last 2 days when there was never any eggs left) and lunch, although very average for the evening meal, there seemed to be so much choice but nothing really seemed to go with anything else. They didn't even get the Mexican night right! The Speciality resturants on the other hand are great and you can make four bookings per week. You shouldn't let the buffet put you off staying at this resort.

The pools were clean and beautiful. We preferred the Relaxation Pool although in the second week there seemed to be some kids in it which we complained about as it is meant to be an adult only pool. There is no blender at the bar here (so as not to disturb the peace) and this was slightly annoying, however for a tip the barman would go to the other pool bar to make your cocktails!!!

The worst thing about this hotel was the rather unpleasant smell that tended to waft through the grounds at times. Thankfully we never smelt it by the pool or the beach or the food places.

The staff are all lovely and helpful. The water sport facilities are great. I recommend the hobie cat - ask Edwin to take you for a lesson first!

Drink worth ordering that are not on the cocktail menus are choclate mudslide, banana mudslide, rainbow shot. We didn't discove these until most of the way through our holiday.

I would definately return to the Occidental Grand on Cozumel. We had a wonderful time.

We picked the Occidental Grand in Cozumel to spend our honeymoon solely based off info received from Internet searches and reviews, as neither of us had traveled to that part of Mexico prior. It was absolutely amazing. There was nothing negative to say about this resort. I honestly believe the people who do complain are just unhappy people anyways. The accomodations were amazing, the staff was so friendly, maid service was wonderful, the food was great and the surroundings were beautiful. We stayed on the third floor so never encountered the musty smell we read of. The only catch was we had two double beds instead of one king but with an amazing view of the ocean we decided not to change. The buffets were always great and particularly liked the steak house. Loved how lunch buffet is right on the beach. All inclusive meant everything including room service, non-motorized water sports and all drinks. The travel assistant in the lobby called and booked every activity we wanted to do, letting us schedule and pay right there. He was very helpful as we do not speak Spanish and did not want to make local calls. Dive shop staff on the beach was very friendly and set up every water activity we wanted to do. It all went very smooth without any hitches. I do recommend NOT renting mopeds as driving in Mexico is somewhat crazy, but the jeep rental worked fine. Note; the ancient Mayan ruins do not look like mini piramids. We had absolutely the best time of our lives, zero stress for 11 glorious days. Will definitely come back.