Just got back tonight from a wonderful 9 day visit to the Occidental Grand Cozumel. The staff was excellent. The service was outstanding - everything was done with a smile and they tried very hard to make everyone happy. The specialty restaurants went from good to outstanding (I’d skip the beach BBQ place for the others). It was amazing on how much of the "jungle" environment exists right around you - it added a really neat additional flavor to the trip. The diving was amazing and was easily integrated into the day since the shop was just steps away and the boat trip to only 5 minutes or so. We plan to return next year.

Stayed with my son from June 25 thru June 30.
The weather was perfect for 5 of 6 days. One days was overcast with no precipitation.
After reading the reviews I had my worries about any place in Cozumel. Let me tell you...the Grand was grand.The staff, the service, the accomodations, the dive shop, were all excellent. My expectations were completely met and then some. There were minor problems, there were mosquitoes, Off took care of that. You couldn't feel them on the beach. Initially the numbers were high but after a day and some fumigation there were a lot less. The beach is small but nice. The food is the usual buffett styleof all inclusives. and was quite good. The variety was great. Very tasty. Some Mexican alot more what we are accustomed to.I'm surprised I didn"t gain any weight. I'll thank all the excellent diving for that. To those that find the service poor, a tip for the good service you get in will surely change that. Remember these people don't even get minimum wage. A dollar to them is a lot more than you can imagine./ Its also a motivator. I tried to tip everyone who provided me with good service. Take lots of dollar bills. The all inclusives dont necessarily pay these people much. I will definitely go back to Cozumel and the Grand Cozumel is a fine place to stay. If you are diving, Dive Palancar ,the hotel dive shop, is an excellent choice for all your diving needs. They offer packages.
See you at the dive center!

We rented a car and took a trip on the western side of the island. Its beautiful, lots of waves and magnificent views right from the road. Ate at Mezcalitos, good seafood platter. Took a siesta on the hammocks. Doesn't get better than that....Went to the Mayan ruins, San Cervanzo, get a guide for a tour. We had this Mayan guide us...it was educational, listeniong to this descendant of the great Mayans. Cozumel is quite an island..go, you'll love it.

We just returned from a 5-day stay at the Occidental Grand (June 24 -28) What a beautiful hotel!
Our vacation got off to a terrible start. US Airways lost our baggage. We rented a car at the airport, and got lost on the way to the hotel (our map was in the "lost" bag). The room was not what we had requested, although we e-mailed Valentina before our arrival with our preferences. We couldn't change rooms until the next day (and we did). The only unhelpful employees we found at the hotel were those that worked at the front desk. They didn't seem to want to make an effort to help us get the room we requested. Nor did they assist us in our efforts to contact US Airways about our luggage. They didn't offer to send what clothes we had to the laundry (we had to wash everything in the sink) or offer us necessary toiletries! (Our luggage finally arrived at 9 PM on our second day)
OK, that was all the bad stuff. ALL the bad stuff. Really. Everything else was sooooooooo good, we soon forgot about the bad.
The minute you set foot in the hotel lobby you are given a glass of champagne (we had 3 each before we even got to our room). All the bars are open all day long. We found no lines at any of them ever. We had a great variety of drinks while there, and all were good with brand name liquor. Always served with a smile! Great service at all the bars!
La Posada, the buffet restaurant, was great. The food was wonderful for both breakfast and dinner. LOTS of variety. We ate at an a la carte restaurant one night but didn't like the food at all. Stick to the buffet for dinner if you go. And look for Landy (the hostess) and Manuel (the restaurant manager), they will make sure you are taken care of. They are just two of the wonderful people who made our stay at Occidental enjoyable.
We ate lunch every day at the beach buffet. It was great. Someone was always barbecuing and you could smell it from the beach. The wait staff here were also very friendly and helpful. And the beach was nice. We had no trouble getting chairs under a palapa every day. And while on the beach, our two new favorite people in the world, Cristal and Sylvia, would take our drink orders. No need to get up and walk to the bar, even though it's close. And no waiting for 1/2 hour for the drink you ordered, either. Quick, friendly service from two very nice people! We miss them already.
One thing we recommend to everyone who goes to Cozumel....rent a car! Cozumel is one place that is safe to travel alone. We spent a whole day on the road and it was one of the best days we ever had on any vacation. We drove into San Miguel and did some shopping. Then we headed over to the east coast and bar-hopped our way from north to south. We stopped at every bar and took pictures while we had a cold drink. The ocean here is truly amazing. About 5 different shades of blue and green. The view, especially from El Mirador (an observation area) and Coconuts bar, is spectacular. We took 250 pictures with our digital camera, most of them on this day.
In short, this is a great hotel and what started out to be a disaster turned out to be a great vacation, due mostly to the friendly people at the Occidental Grand. We would return here again and do recommend it to everyone! And if you go, say "HI" to Landy, Manuel, Cristal and Sylvia for us.....
Mike and Maria Scandle

My husband and I stayed at the Occidental Grand June 5-12 and we had a great time. The weather turned out wonderful-only raining on the last day-but that knocked out the power and water for almost 15 hours. They still had food despite there being no power or water. The grounds are beautiful and very clean. We never had trouble finding a loung chair and never had to wait in line for a drink-as many other reviews stated. We used the dive shop a few different times for fishing and snorkeling-they were very helpful and nice. Don't use the SOLARIS boat for fishing. TRUST ME!! I would book the 3 reef snorkel-we saw tons of fish it was amazing!! Snorkeling in front of the resort is ok but take a snorkel tour if you want to see GREAT marine life. All of the restruants are nice but the reservation required restruants are defintly the best don't miss out on those. All the mixed drinks are wonderful-very tastey. We went on a tour to the mainland and went to Tulum and Xelha. The ruins at Tulum are breathtaking-A must see. Xelha is a great place but to many cruise ship people - It would be better to go on a day when the cruise ships don't port in town. I think Sunday is the only day they don't port. Not a lot of night life at the resort - is disco is fun but was never very crowded. Taxis are not hard to get and there are bars in town-Senor Frogs, Hard Rock etc.. A couple got married on the beach in front of the resort one of the evenings-it seemed like a great time it was very pretty. All in all the week was unforgetable and the staff all very friendly. Great rooms, Great food, Great drinks, Great beach everything was WONDERFUL - We are going to go back to dive next time!!! P.S. watch out for the time share guys - they will take 3 hours out of your beach time!!