We just returned from a week at the Melia Cozumel. It was fabulous. The ocean view rooms are very spacious and lovely. As others have mentioned, the bed mattress is hard, but my back actually felt better with a firmer mattress! The resort only had about 40% occupancy, so there was never a problem getting a beach chair or palapa to lay under. The white sand beach is beautiful. We walked in the mornings and afternoons. You can head north up the shore as far as you like. It's all beautiful white sand.
It's ok to drink the water they serve and have ice with your drinks. The water and ice restaurant are purified. The tap water is not purified, so don't drink any when you brush your teeth. (Or use the bottled water they supply in your room each day). We also brought the little lemonade packets, added it to the bottled water, and took it with us when we went shopping or on tours. It tasted great!
Everyone at the Melia speaks English (except maybe the maids). It definitely helps to know a little Spanish once you leave the resort . . . just the basics like, how much is this? Or take me to the ferry boats.
If you want to horseback ride, skip the tours and book with George across the street from the Melia. It's $20 for an hour, and you can gallop on the beach! Be sure to wear long pants, otherwise, the saddle will rub you raw! George also takes you through the "rainforest" though it's mostly trees, puddles, and unfortunately a lot of uprooted trees from the hurricane.
The food at the Melia is very good. The main restaurant is a buffet. They always serve fresh fruit, including watermelon, canteloupe, papaya, and pineapple. In the morning, it's typically eggs, french toast, waffles, pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes, cereals, oatmeal, fresh fruit, and various other hot dishes, breads of all types, and whole milk and juices. For lunch, they have green salad, mixed salads, cheese, meats, They have fresh salad and soup every day, usually a chicken dish, meat dish, potatoes, vegetables, etc. Dinners vary greatly, and there is always a theme, such as Italian, Chinese, Mexican, etc. The beef and chicken fajitas were outstanding. The chicken is excellent, no matter how they prepare it. They always have a chef grilling something special, like chicken breasts, pork chops, stir fry. etc. Try some new things . . , you'll be pleasantly surprised. The desserts are different than what we're used to. They're not as sweet, and a little more bland. The chocolate cake is soaked in rum, and is a bit mushy. The cheesecake is very different, as was the banana pie. They have ice cream available on request.
We never ate at the "nice" restaurant, but others said it was good. Also available is a "fast food" type grill, where you can get hamburgers, breaded chicken burgers (skip it), chicken wings, cheese sticks (excellent), and various other finger foods. It's only open during the day, and closes around 6.
The bars are open 24/7. The drinks are tasty. My husband and I are not big drinkers, so I can't comment on the quality of the drinks, but we enjoyed them. Definitely not strong drinks.
We went on the Fury Catamaran/snorkeling tour and it was wonderful. The drinks were flowing fast and furious and they are VERY STRONG! The hamburger lunch was excellent. They supply all snorkeling equipment, and will personally escort you in the ocean if you need extra help. If you enjoy snorkling, this is a must.
We went to Xcaraet. My husband didn't want to do the water activities, and there wasn't much to see in terms of animals. One leopard, one jaguar, two monkeys, etc. Their manmade beach is beautiful, and they have inner tubes available. If you want to float down the river, they have life jackets available. It looked like a lot of fun. They have cenotes (pronounced sea-note-tays) that were supposedly incredible. I'll defer to someone who actually went in the water for more info.
Downtown Cozumel was a lot of fun. It's a $5 taxi ride for two people from the Melia. The stores close pretty early, but the restaurants and bars stay open much later. Instead of shopping in the plaza, or going up and down the main street, venture in a block or two. There are wonderful little shops with beautiful pottery, shirts, and anything else you want/need. They'll bargain with you more than the shops on the main street.
We had a wonderful time, and will certainly return.

4 guys went down on our annual golf trip to the Melia (Jan 12-19)on an all inclusive (including the golf) package. We were well aware of the reviews claiming lack of night life and such, but we had an amazing time down there. We ended up hanging out with a large contingent of fellow Canadians that were on the same flights as us and we made the best of every minute down there. Here are some summary points:

Rooms:
I thought the rooms were very comfortable. A/C worked great, nice showers, large towels. They just needed more drawers to unpack instead of living out of my suitcase all week. It's also hit and miss with the view. We had two rooms right beside each other and one faced the family pool area and our faced the back of the a la carte restaurant. Whatever. All good.

Food:
- Breakfast buffet was always excellent
- Lunch and dinner buffets were both good and you could always get fresh cooked steaks or pork chops. Two selections of soup per meal as well. And always good bar service during the meals.
- Snack bar was great. Burgers, hot dogs, ribs, chicken wings, quesadillas, jalapeño poppers, etc.
- you could get snack food at the lobby bar at night, but it was just whatever they were serving that day.

Bars:
They were very fast with the mixed drinks (we tried pretty much every frozen drink ever dreamed up) and the cervezas. 5 bars in total (at least that I found). The swim up bar at the adult pool (by the beach), in the buffet restaurant, at the snack bar (also by the beach), in the club where they did the evening shows, and the main lobby bar. All the bartenders and servers were fast and friendly. We kept the lobby bar hopping late into the evening on most nights.

Entertainment:
We were a little wary of the evening shows (9:00 every night) at first based on previous resort experiences, but the entertainment staff came around and gathered people up to come so we went the first night. It was a little hokey that night and the audience was a bit thin, but it wasn't bad. Each night was typically a show by the entertainment staff and then audience participation part at the end. The shows got better and better throughout the week and the audience began to really pack in. It became a nightly ritual to go to the show even if it meant getting a much later dinner. I don't think we missed one the whole week and the karaoke night went until the bar closed down. Fantastic.

The entertainment staff themselves were fantastic. Always coming around the resort to round people up for the show or other activities. There was one frightening looking gal (we think) the first few nights, but then she disappeared amongst rumours she had been replaced by the new girl that was there the rest of the week. The hired in a few entertainers on different nights, like the hula hoop girl (I think I'm in love).

Golf:
The course was in great shape, but extremely challenging. If you don't hitting the ball straight then bring lots of golf balls. And I do mean lots. We lost an average of 10 a round (and almost that many as a group on 16 and 18 daily. Stupid 16). Any shot that even crawls into the wood is near unrecoverable due to how thick the brush is. Bring an ball retriever too, as you're not going to want to reach into the woods with your hands or get too close to the water with all the crocodiles. We saw an average of 5 a day and estimate a good 30 in and around the course. Great for pictures though.

Yes, the nightlife was a little lacking at the resort, but it's all what you make it. We played pool over beers, hung with fellow travelers and closed many a bar, but we also all went into town for an $8 cab ride to Senior Frogs which was relatively busy most nights.

Apparently Cozumel also has great snorkeling, diving, fishing, and other assorted trips, but those seemed more like myths or urban legends to our group. I definitely go back and would also take the family there without hesitation.

Peace!

We have been going to the Melia for the past 8 or nine years. (we missed last year due to "Wilma") I've read what others have said and I understand their thoughts, but I still love Cozumel, I still love the Melia and I will always have wonderful memories of my vacations. HOWEVER - this past year I came close to wanting to go home for 2 reasons.....there were soooooo many biting insects. I never saw what got me or when all I know is that by the end of day 1 and 2 my arms were a mess, part of my body and my legs. I have NEVER had a problem this this before!! I spent more time & money trying to find relief - unfortunately, I had some reactions to the bites. (I returned home Sat Jan 27 and I am still itching) The other reason was the water - all that seaweed is annoying. Someone, somewhere has to come up with a way to make it go away! In years past we were always able to just get up from our beach chair, take snokel in hand, walk out and see the fish etc. Now we were forced to walk down a few beaches to the now closed cabanas de caribe for a terrific spot, but again it was a small chore. My husband and I go to sit in the sun, relax, drink all day and just "veg"...and that's what we do! I love the employees at the hotel, I like their little entertainment shows (they are VERY good dancers!) It's very easy to rent a car and spend the day on the other side - which we do once or twice in the week we are there. The food at the Melia is good, the service is FANTASTIC, the drinks are yummy...and aside from my bug bites, I had a good time. Will I be running to go next year? Yes and No....I need the bug issue to be addressed and fixed - like I said, I've never seen anything like that before. Due to that, my rating dropped from 5 to 4 (or 3.5)

well where can i start on this well we checked in on the jan 11th k the staff were a great bunch of people but the nightmare they must work in has 2 be tough!! i guess the saying is right on that you get what you pay for : ( the country is still tryin 2 get back on its feet i understand that but please let the public know a little better on how bad it still is!!! the food was awful a complete trainwreck had to change our room 3 times from that nice moldy smell that they all seem 2 be smelling like not cool!!!! only if i was a mushroom farmer maybe!!! the beach is awful wheres that blue water beach that was in this hotels ad?seemed like the 3 mile island beach ouch!!!!!!! sand fleas 1 more ouchhhhhhh not cool badtime oh and god watch out 4 those time share guys!!!!!!!!! stay away from them at the airport at all cost`s they are like MONSTER VULTURES. ya sure guy its not timeshare!! stay away if ya want some good deals hit up the downtown shops i guess still lots of destruction just if ya go try 2 go with a open mind lol and if you love bottom shelf food and drinks go 4 it as i will never again!!!! lata the loud guy from long island new york hahaha