The buildings and layout of this place was beautiful. I just got back yesterday and already miss the warm sunshine, and all the leafy greens decorating the background. We could always get quick and reasonable transportation to downtown (some bargaining was necessary for the return trips). The staff was very helpful and took the time to listen, and had the patience until the both of you understood what each other was saying. Unfortunately, our trip was a real quick one; we missed out on what looked like a lot of interesting tours. The Rum and Corona were free flowing almost any time you needed it. The only negative was the buffett food, there was a huge selection, but 75% of it was bland (I've been on several cruise, which all had the most amazing food I have ever had). Besidess the buffett, we also dined in the Sonora restaraunt and the Pizzeria, which were significantly better.

I recently spent the week of New Year's with my family in Cozumel at the Occidental Grand Cozumel. We are a well travelled family and have stayed at several five star hotels throughout the world, but have also camped in the outback, therefore we are usually able to enjoy a variety of accomodations. However, it was not until we arrived in Mexico that we were told the hotel had overbooked for 100's of guests. We had fully paid for our trip in the fall but the staff stated they were not accomodating any online reservations. The staff at the front desk were not helpful, rude, and condescending. They told us they were simply overbooked and were accomodating reservations made in august, so since ours were made in september, we were welcome to come back for a week at a later date. That would have been an option if we had not already flown to Mexico. They knew of the overbooking before our flights had taken off, but did not alert us of the problem until after we arrived in Mexico. The hotel that they placed us in, was extremely different and far below the standard of what we had paid for. We would not recommend the Occidental Grand Cozumel to anyone and urge you to be very careful.

We arrived home yesterday from a 4-day, 3-night stay in paradise... I have a few points to make for those of you inquiring about this hotel in Cozumel:

We chose Apple Vacations to book our trip for us. Everything and I mean everything (including the airplane timing, resort, weather, etc) was perfect, except for the Apple agency personnel itself.

CHECK-IN at Grand Cozumel: Be ready for a little bit of a Mexican "scam" at check in if you do not know what to expect. If a flight arrives at the hotel prior to check in (3pm) you will be told that the "regular" rooms are not ready and in order to get a room prior to 3pm (we checked in at 10:30am), you need to upgrade to the Royal Club. Also, you cannot make a reservation at one of the three sit-down restaurants at 10:30 am (they are already "booked"), unless you upgrade. My husband and I decided that for $180 for three nights, we would upgrade to Royal Club and it was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY!!

ROOM: The Royal Club room we had (# 2123) was beautiful in every way. The entire room was classy and decorated fully in marble. The shower was huge (all glass) and there was a small but sweet 1-person jacuzzi tub. Everything was impeccably clean and sanitary. The bed was totally comfortable and we enjoyed our little walkout balcony and our mini bar in the fridge.

CONCIERGE: With the Royal Club "membership" you receive a concierge assigned to you. However, it is nearly impossible to find your very own concierge, but one is always on duty in the room adjacent to your hotel building. They were all friendly to us and did basically whatever we requested.

FOOD: We tried each of the hotel restaurants (steak, meditteranean, mexican) each of our three nights at the resort. They were all excellent, both in fare as well as service. We chose the buffet (La Posada) for breakfast every morning and it ranged from tremendous fruit choices to "eggs your way" to pancakes/french toast, etc. We ate our lunches at the Beach buffet (La Hacienda) each day and enjoyed the nachos, grilled mahi mahi, fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, etc. I would give the food overall 4 out of 5 stars in taste and 5 out of 5 in presentation at each of the three restaurants.

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES: My husband and I enjoyed lots of quiet time on the beach daily. There were activities at the pool each afternoon. We chose to take one tour and we really enjoyed ourselves. We did the ATV/Jungle Tour. They provide transportation to the jungle in the north of the island. From there, you ride 4-wheelers for hours into the coastline of the jungle. Kayaks took you out to the reef for a beautiful snorkeling adventure. The 3 hour trip turned into a mini-Gilligans Island (a SIX HOUR TOUR, a SIX HOUR TOUR), however, it was worth the $160 pricetag. Diving is popular in Cozumel, but this trip we did not try that.

The only complaints we have are as follows:

1) Apple Representatives: Due to the particular Apple Guide we had, we almost missed our flight leaving Mexico. They had us down for a trip "home" to Denver, when we were leaving four hours earlier to Chicago. Due to this error as well as hub and I missing the "Apple Welcome" the first day at the resort, we had to pay for a $20 taxi to get us to the airport (arrived 30 min prior to boarding), even though round trip ground transportation was included in our package.

2) Bar opening first at 10:00 am. We are not lushes or huge drinkers, however, if we were not in the Royal Club with our mini bar in our room, it is impossible to get any form of alcoholic beverage prior to about 10:30. (they post 10am as the opening of the Beach Bar, but that is in Mexican time ;) )..... I craved a Mimosa during my walk on the beach looking for shells around 7:30 am, but it did not happen.

This hotel is classified correctly as a five-star GOLDEN Apple resort. We have been to other places in Mexico and other places around the world. This resort was the classiest we have found thus far.

Thank you Grand Cozumel for making our vacation a dream in paradise!

This hotel is lovely. We had great service (the Grand Concierge Deluxe helped, since we don't speak Spanish). Really, in every way the staff was accomodating and the facility was excellent. During our five night stay (1/8-1/13) we ate at all the restaurants and the buffets and enjoyed them all. My only suggestion is that it is not a party place -- it is, as promised, a relaxing resort for adults. My two sons (18 and 21) would have liked a livelier night life or a location closer to the town. But for my husbnd and I, the location with long stretches of beach, quiet conversation and beautiful grounds, was simply ideal. Even the entertainment was interesting! We also appreciated the beautiful rooms, great showers and very heplful staff who went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed (including many bottles of water for my distance running husband).

Yes -- we booked through a travel agent, not on-line. We got a very good price, in my opinion, and felt we got a great value. Plus, the island is very unique!