We honeymooned at the Melia from July 21-28. We upgraded our room for $30/day to get a honeymoon suite, excellent choice, the room was only feet from the beach. We never experienced the musty smell in our room, and the air conditioning worked very well, almost too well.

Check in and out was a breeze, very easy, no hassles.

Food...not the best, it's your typical buffet. Some days were hard to find things we liked. There was a musty smell in the buffet room, and it always seemed to be hot in there. The wait staff was excellent, always smiles on their faces. The snack bar had munchies like chicken wings, french fries, onion rings always out and they would make you a burger if you asked. So when we left the buffet hungry we went to the snack bar! We only went to the fancy restaurant once. The food there was average, but it was better than the buffet.

Drinks...a little bit weak, but if you asked for a stronger drink you would get it. Some of the bartenders acted like they didn't like their job, like ordering a drink was a bother to them, but for the most part it was ok.

Pools..there are 2 pools, one family and one adult only with a swim up bar. There was no problem finding a chair, always plenty of room.

Beach..the sand is beautiful, the best beach we saw while we were there. The water is cloudy, but a short walk to the next resort and it's crystal clear. Get the free snorkel gear and walk next door, there's tons of fish just off the pier.

We rented a scooter and toured the island, what a blast!!!! The locals are very friendly and the bars are interesting, some are still rebuilding from the last hurricane. We never felt unsafe at any time.

We went to Playa one day, very interesting!!! Much faster paced there, lots of shopping and plenty of local bars. The ferry ride over is about 35 minutes and $8 per person. Watch out for the time share peole at the pier, they grab you as soon as you get ou of the taxi and make you think that's where you get tickets, walk buy and ignore them, they're a waste of time. We booked a fishing trip while we were there, we did not get what we paid for so be careful. We paid $280 and were told we would get a nice boat (even showed me a picture) with a bathroom. What we got was a broken down boat with no bathroom. We still had fun and caught fish, but just be careful.

I can honestly say that there was only one time that I was a bit mad at the resort, the time share people in the lobby are a bit pushy. They tried to get us to cancel our scooter rental from another company and give us one free if we would go thru the time share sales pitch. Not interested, I know how time share sales pitches go and they wate your entire day.

All in all, it was a good time. The food may not be the greatest, but the resort was nice, and the people were friendly. It's very relaxing, not a real party place. We will go back some day.

My wife and I stayed at the Melia resort over the past week. We arrived on a Saturday and were greeted by the very friendly and over zealous red-shirts at the exit door awaiting our presence so that they could sell us their vacation extra's. They actually told me they were the cab company sent to pick me up.... Wow they were good. So, my wife and I spent about 20 minutes going through their slice of the pie. When we realized we knew where he was going with things, he immediately became defensive. Then he offered us a whole bunch of stuff for free as long we we would visit his hotel to discuss time share activities.

So, the travel agent we used didn't send a cab like we had hoped. That was more on our end. But we really didn't expect they would. Just be prepared to spend about $10-12 depending on the number of people with you. We got a ride with a very nice group (2 couples) whom were from AZ. We arrived at the hotel and they had no open rooms for us to upgrade to. We went up to our Deluxe Room over by the kid pool on the third floor.

I hadn't slept in about 30 hours or so to make the trip and to get my work done at home so I wouldn't have to do it there. That night people above us and next to us were extremely loud and banging on doors at 1AM and 3AM respectively. We talked with the front desk the next morning and they indicated they would take care of it. Sunday night was better.

Monday night I moved my wife and I up to a Suite (Ocean View) for a few extra dollars per day, I think 20-30 per day more. There weren't any rooms available until then anyway. I had asked on Saturday and Sunday but no go.

Monday as well I went on a excursion (Scuba) with a guest we had met there. He and his family were staying there virtually the same amount of time we were. We went on two scuba excurtions and had a great time on both. I had never been scuba before and I was all the way down to 73 ft hanging off of a cliff floating on the current where it dropped off to 400 meters then 700 (by choice), I think the sense or feeling of the fact that there really isn't a bottom I can see below me was a rush Don't try this if you are faint. We received excellent training and I even got a dive book to talk about my experiences through journaling so I would remember them. They also offer certification classes where in 3 days (6 dives) I believe you can become certified. If you have never tried it give it a shot. Tell Lucio from Diving with Martin that Patricio and Bert send their best. He is an excellent instructor and is a master diver.

The shopping in town is good, sometimes it is easier to just play dumb like you don't understand than it is to stop in peoples stores. We did get a couple of free Tequila shots and also some free beers from perusing merchandise.

Great Restaurants in town to visit are La Chosa for authentic mexican food and a great selection. It's indoor and outdoor offerings for tables really helped make our dining experience much better. Also, the Casa Mission A.K.A La Casa Mission pronounced missy-own. Not mission, was by far one of the best dining experiences for Lobster and steak we all had, at least there. Restaurants down there outside of the hotel were all great. Even Bob Marley's on the east coast where we went for the day trip in the Jeep was memorable.

The best bartender we all had was William. His evening counterpart was also excellent. If you are heading there, tell him Patricio said he did an excellent job. I often spoke spanish with them although my verbs weren't conjugated properly it goes a long way to try to speak the native tongue.

The front desk and activities staff, waiters and bartenders all appreciated it.

It will get quite humid in Mexico so if you want to leave your doors open at night, expect a wet or moist set of sheets on your bed in the morning or in the evening when you get back from your trip.

Lunch at the northen end of the beach in the La Isla outdoor area was great when you let them serve you. If you walk up to the cook, at times he was a bit testy not wanting to take our order. The cheese sticks, onion rings and other amenities such as french fries were good. You could grab a paper plate and fill it then bring it back with you to the pool or to the beach. Just make sure you know where the trash is closest to you. The indoor large bar during the morning has a breakfast bar that was excellent. The omlets and eggs were the best. We ate there every day. Fresh fruit, vege's and more were a part of our day each day. At night they serve pretty ok food. It's not five star but during peak season they do let you reserve lobster or special foods which they will special order and prepare for you. We didn't ask them while we were there but family members whom visited in March said that they all were pleased with the food. If you see a salsa that is yellow orange, that could be jabanero so wizzatch out for that one. It was tasty and quite warm.

Bathrooms are spread about the facility for people outdoors but are usually about a minute walk from any location.

Base your experience on the restaurants you visit in town. That will be your best judgment call.
If people aren't pleased with the food at the hotel which some aren't according to their reviews, you have it completely within your control to visit another restaurant.

I guess that about covers it. To ensure that you have a great time, make sure you think about the activities before hand. Have a good idea of when you would like to do your excursions. In some cases 24 hours is needed for scheduling. Also, if you are considering booking your visit, try to go through Continental Airlines as they are the best price in most cases unless you live in Charlotte, Atlanta, or San Francisco. Delta, US Airways and American fly in there regularly as well does Continental. Noone appeared to fly direct unless it was January - April.

1) Buy a snorkel and flippers in the US and bring it with you if you intend on using it. On the other side of the cement pier just to the south of the Melia on the water (next hotel over), If you bring some corn flakes or special K over from breakfast, you won't need much, and just snorkel out about 30 feet from shore towards the wall you should attract a good amount of fish which will be great for pictures. For me I had my snorkeling adventure just from that. Personally I started thinking that they were hungry fish. One of them got my finger and one of them got me on my back from a falling or stuck corn flake I am sure.

2) Jeep rental - Get insurance and take it for the day. Drive up or down the east coast. Go downtown or what ever. 24 hour rental notice might be required

3) Try scuba or another activity which you have never done. They got a few new wave runners during our stay as well.

4) Try to get the ocean view room prior to your trip, we were very lucky I think to have one available with the number of people there.

5) A good idea is to find out if your digital camera has a waterproof case you can put it in so that if you do want digital pictures of your trip during water activities as well, you are prepared for it. That was one thing I belive we wished we had looked into.



If you're wondering if we would go back, at this point I believe we would. We would obviously like to be pampered a little more with the food onsite and the drink selections while they both exceeded my needs, I still think that resorts like this should be able to have things like Captain Morgan, Corona and Patron or Cuervo Gold for thier guests.

Well, that's all I have to give for input. Just know we met some very nice people during our visit, you likely will as well. We had a excellent time and enjoyed everyone's company while at the Melia. Noone is flat out mean and with the right expectations from the get go, your experience overall will be just shy of excellent (as in our case).

The Melia Cozumel was one of the very nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. Not only was it beautiful, but the staff is what really made it stand out above all the others. I arrived late on a Thursday evening only to find out that my travel agent had not confirmed my reservations. The receptionist gave me a room and told me to call the agency the next morning. With the persistance of Arturo Barajas, it got straightened out. The room was exceptionally clean, the grounds were immaculate. The buffet was somewhat puzzling at times. Some of the food combinations were strange: No tortilla chips or salsa on 'Mexican Night'. Mixed mashed carrots and potatoes? Overall it was very good with breakfast being the very best. Best of all? The freebies! This is an all-inclusive hotel. All your meals and drinks are included in the price of your room. If you drink alcohol, ask for a 'double'. They are pretty watered down. There is a sauna and work-out room. For both of these, you have to make a reservation. Free HUGE beach towels at the activity desk. Free use of all non-motorized water equiptment...fins, goggles, boogie boards, canoes, snorkel equiptment (they give snorkle lessons almost everyday at 11 in the family pool). Salsa lessons several times a week and even Spanish lessons! $5 dollar taxi to and from the ferry which takes you to Playa del Carmen (ferry runs every hour on the hour except 10pm and costs $10 per person). Almost everyone speaks English although they do seem to enjoy hearing you try to speak Spanish..even if it is bad (like mine!). A little pricey if you try to buy your accomodations straight from them. Almost every other travel agency requires you to 'tour' their Sol Melia Vacation Club. Its 90 minutes of your time and well worth the discount.

My husband and I just got back from a 7 day trip to Cozumel (July 16-22). Our stay at the Melia was wonderful. The check in took awhile because several people on our flight were checking in there also. But once we got to our room it was perfect. We had an ocean view room on the north end with a king size bed. The view was wonderful! And our room was extremely clean, it would get a little muggy if we didn't keep the AC running all day and night, but as long as it was on we never had a problem with being hot (in fact a couple of nights I got cold). We always had plenty of hot water and clean towels.

Beach: The white sand was beautiful in front of the beach. There was quiet a bit of sea weed, but if we walked out a few feet into the water it was fine (The staff is out cleaning the beach every morning so that helped). We actually had fun snorkeling there because we saw several rays and a ton of old sea shells. We never had a problem with getting a chair in the shade... there was always plenty of room.

Snorkeling: We took the hotel snorkeling tour at 11am, and they take you down south on the beach (a ways past El Coz) and that was so much fun. We were told we would see tons of fish and we did. We also discovered it was a ton of fun to snorkel back up the shoreline to the El Coz and get out there. We saw so many fun fish doing this (Barracuda, squid, jelly fish, and we found some fun sea shells). The water was so clean and clear! We ended up walking down and snorkeling back every morning. We also purchased an inexpensive snorkel set from Costco, it was nice to be able to go snorkeling whenever we wanted.

Food: Yes it's true the buffet isn't anything to write home about, but the breakfast was great and other meals we were always able to find some thing to eat. We enjoyed the grill outside (they have great guacamole!!!!). We really enjoyed the Cafe Paraiso, we made reservations there 2 nights because we liked it so much. Over all for what we paid I can not complain about the food.

The Staff: Everyone was so friendly and patient with our trying to speak the few Spanish words we knew and taught us a few more. Whenever we were at a table to eat they were constantly bringing us more drinks and making sure we were taken care of. Our room was also kept very clean, and we always had plenty of bottled water.

Our trip was wonderful and I would go back to the Melia in a heartbeat!

FYI: We also did the royal swim with the dolphins and LOVED IT!