Just got back from San Andres, we stayed at the Marazul it was the best of the 5 hotel's as far as accomadations.
The staff were very friendly and the people as a whole in town were great.
The only problem is if you are looking for long white sandy beach's you will not find them here. there are a few great beach's but you have to take a 5 minute bus ride to Rockey Key or a 15 minute ride to Islano's (public beach) Rockey key is the best as you can book lunch with your hotel and enjoy the beach.
Beach vendors don't bother you once you tell them you don't want anything.If you go to Rocky Key buy a beach rapp from Lewis he is very friendly and a very good price.If you buy something from Lewis tell him the guy from Canada who gave him a birthday present sent you.
They all speak English, make sure you convert your money into peso's much easier to deal with.
You get anywhere from 1800-2,000 peso's to the US Dollar.
If you stay at the Marazul speak to Mario the boat captain he will take you out to the 2 islands for a couple hours, if you go to the big island becareful they will charge you for a chair to sit on.
Would I go back YES someday but it would not be my first choice, as my wife and I like the larger beach's, but one day I will return.
Overall a very confortable Island great food SAFE, CHEAP, HOT, FRIENDLY we were just looking for more in long walks and body surfing.
If you are looking for somewhere to just relax and enjoy the sun and food then by all means San Andres is the place, each hotel offers you something different
Maryland -for the older generation
Islano-close for reno-lunch only
Aquairo- mix party family
Marazul-family laid back
Rocky Key- Beach, lunch dinner only no hotel
San Luis- cottage style can be noisy party place
FREE SHUTTLE BUS to anyone of the hotels for lunch, dinner or a show.
Banks close at 11:30 open at 2pm, store's close at 12:30 open at 3:30 only change your money at the Bank of Columbia passport required, hotel rate is lower ,store's give a very good rate.
Overall great time,

Good bang for your buck! If you are expecting luxury, go elsewhere. Consider what you're paying for an all-inclusive vacation. $1000.00 will not buy you a week at the Ritz or Four Seasons, including airfare. It will however, get you a nice, relaxing, laid back vacation at the Marazul with a clean room, decent food and friendly staff.

The beach was nice and never crowded. You can swim here, there's just a little seaweed in the water - no big deal. There were people in the water here everyday. Offshore island was crowed (don't recommend), but do have Mario take you to snorkel with the stingrays.

The on-site dive shop was great. Dive packages were very reasonable and quality of dive sites was good. Lot's of colourful corals and a variety of sealife.

The rooms are clean and functional with a good size balcony.

The food was good.
- Breakfast - Always lots of fresh fruit. Omlet station was good as well. Fresh breads and tasty coffee.

- Lunch - Buffet had a great salad bar and decent "hot food" selections as well. Next to the buffet was a grill where you could get good BBQ hamburgers & BOILED hot dogs (we'd ask them to throw the hot dog on the BBQ for a few minutes and they weren't bad).

- Dinner
- Buffet offered good salad bar and different theme dinners each evening. Overall not bad, but not great.
- Brasas BBQ was good. Go for either the chicken or fish (very good!). Steaks were tough and salty, pork chop just tough.
- Caravelle - Tasty pasta and seafood selections, with a nice antipasto & salad bar. Daily soup was good too.

We dined at Rocky Cay one night & "catch of the day" was good, but did not eat at any other hotels.

We were not disappointed by the Marazul and would return. Like we said - good bang for your buck.

PS - the shopping in town is pretty good too!

My friend and I decided to try out San Andres because we wanted something a little different then the standard vacations (Mexico, DR, Cuba, etc). We are so glad we did!! The Marazul is an outstanding resort and San Andres is a great island! Although I agree with most of the posts here that it is a 3 star resort, the food, the staff, and the culture make up for the prestige rooms. You feel as though you are staying at 5 star due to the excellent staff. Everyone from the maids, to the bartenders, the fun crew (Carlos and Lorenzo are amazing!!), and even the ground keepers are welcoming and super friendly. WIth that being said, the rooms are good, clean, and spactious. The bathrooms are clean and the maids do an excellent job.

We read a review that said if you are young and single (we are both 28 and a lot of fun) we wouldn't find it too exciting. That couldn't be more wrong!! We had so much, partied in town (the bars are great and cheap, a lot of dancing to be done) and we found it so entertaining. Even the nightly entertainment had us in stiches at our resort and rarely did we want to miss a show.

This place is for you if:
you love to have a good time
are up for new things (you must do the snorkelling with mario!!)
love seafood
want to be quiet and relaxed in the day and crazy at night (off resort though)
love the sun

This place is not for you if:
you love a big beach (there is a good one in town though)
are used to 4+ bedrooms
don't like to be adventurous (you might get bored then at your resort for a week) there are things to do, but going outside of the resort for some day trips, snorkelling, boating, island tours, makes the trip!
hate the wind (but you love it because it keeps you from sweating!)

Overall, we both became super attached to everything on the island and it was hard to leave. I usually like to try new things, but it will be hard not to want to come back to the island next trip.

Positives
Wonderful hotel, staff and food. Sunny the majority of the time. For great snorkelling went to Acuario. Alcohol flows! Workers do not have the tip me attitude. Great massage. Wonderful people, very laid back. "Take easy "is the motto, The concept of using facilities from other Decameron hotels is excellent. The snorkeling trip with Mario is wonderful. His wife is very passionate and caring. The San Luis buffet was the best in my opinion. Safe enough to walk around and use the local buses.

Negatives
The beach at the Marazul is not great. The pool too small and full of children. The gym is a joke. It has 5 broken bikes and broken weights. If you go in the morning there is no water and if there is, there are no cups!The girl that waits there does not seem very interested. If you would like to go jogging outside be careful of the traffic! The Japanese restaurant is not really sushi. The Thai restaurant although most trumpeted is rarely available. In december and Jan, it was sometimes too windy to snorkel at acuario. The entertainment is mostly in spanish and not great.