We stayed at the Melia Cozumel last week July 18-21. It was a short stay and although I disagree with a lot of the comments in here about the food, there were some issues with the Melia mostly with the beach and water.
Despite many reviews in here about the food being bad - the food was good, diverse, great variety, hot if required, cold if required, few birds flying around inside the buffet area secondary to netting around the open areas to keep the birds out, and plentiful. I don't have high expectations of 5 Star food at a buffet or any of the restaurants at any all-inclusive resort in Mexico, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, or any other place I have traveled. If you do - then go somewhere else other than an all-inclusive resort and quit harping about bad food. We went to one of the restaurants on Saturday night and the food was good. I had the lamb rack of ribs which were very tender and tasty. My girlfriend had the salmon steak and liked it also. We were so full that we did not even order the dessert.
We had one issue with our room. The shower handle broke off the first morning when we used it. Although it was an inconvenience, I went to the front office and told them and it was fixed by that afternoon when we needed it again.
Our whole reason for going to Cozumel was for the beach and snorkeling. This was probably one of the worst beaches I have ever stayed at secondary to the brown, muddy water, rocks in the water, and there is no way you can snorkel there. When checking out the snorkel gear from the activities desk, they tell you to go next door on the other side of the pier.
Right next door (to the left of the Melia as you face the ocean) was the Cozumelena Hotel with a pier extending out from the beach into the ocean. We had stayed at the Cozumelena in 2006 and although my memory is fading on me, I did not remember the Melia side of the ocean being so rough and dirty water. I think this pier keeps the currents down and therefore the Cozumelena side is more blue and clear water and much less rough. Although there are still many big and small rocks/boulders spread out through the water just off the beach on both sides of the pier.
But you had to go to the Cozumelena side to snorkel. This was OK - small walk to the pier. But the Cozumelena staff "beach cops" wouldn't let you sit on any of the beach chairs (and there were plenty of empty ones) unless you had a Cozumelena band on your wrist. We were actually chased away by two of the Cozumelena staff members while waiting for a boat to come pick us up at the pier for a snorkeling tour. Now this is another part of the story of why you take a risk for traveling during Hurricane season.
Sunday morning there were many quick storms passing through the area. The host for worryfreevacations (the company we used to book our vacation) had advised us that we should wait to go snorkeling because the weather was changing too quickly. But this was our last day there (we were really only there Saturday and Sunday and leaving early the next morning Monday) so we really wanted to go snorkeling. So we booked a 10:30 am snorkeling trip. Just before our boat arrived (10:30 am) to pick us up at the pier, a storm hit with 30 mile hour winds and hard, blinding rain that hurt when it hit you in the face and arms/legs. There was no telling when the storm was ending, so we left the pier and went back and got our money refunded. The worryfreevacation host had no problem refunding our money.
The storms continued all day long Sunday. As it turned out, these morning and afternoon storms were the precursors for Tropical Storm Dolly. We missed the snorkeling, stayed on the beach and went through several more of these quick, hard storms. Red flags were out so no one was allowed in the water on the beach. We went to the pool area, stayed there for a couple more hours and had some drinks at the swim-up pool bar (see pics), and then went upstairs around 5:30 PM to change/shower and get ready for dinner.
When we came back down at about 7 PM, I went to the lobby bar to order a drink and they would not serve me alcohol. After several attempts to try to understand what the bartender was telling me, he pointed to a sign sitting on the bar which read (Due to Tropical Storm Dolly, all alcohol consumption at resorts is being suspended per Mexican government until further notice) or something like that. So now we could not drink alcohol and there was a tropical storm headed our way. The night went on with me drinking cranberry juice, water, or sodas the whole evening.
We were supposed to leave the next morning early (7:30 am), and the worryfreevacation host did not even know if the airports would be open. Luckily Dolly passed through with no damage, the airports opened normally, and we made it back to Dallas at the regularly scheduled time.
All-in-all it was just an OK vacation that was messed up by Dolly which no resort has control over. The Melia ocean is horrible and no way you can snorkel there. The rooms were great, AC worked fine, Melia staff was very nice and provided prompt service, and no issues with any of the Melia staff.
I will probably not go back to the Melia because of the beach and dirty, brown water. I like to snorkel and this is not a snorkeling beach. But if you are vacationing for sunbathing, pool swimming, and relaxing, then it is an OK hotel to consider.
