Flight:
Booked through Apple Vacations and flew USA 3000 out of Cleveland. Flight left on time and we arrived ahead of schedule. Was not aware food had to be purchased on the plane. Buy food at the airport as the airplane food was terrible. Upon arrival in Cancun, was impressed by the new international terminal. Just two months old. We purchased a direct transfer to the hotel through our travel agent ($20 per head round trip). The ride still took over 1 hr and 15 mins.

Check in and Rooms:
Check in was quick and efficient. Ask for all the information you need in advance such as buffet theme nights, pool activity schedule, show schedules etc. Also, book a la cartes right away after check in to ensure a reservation. Room was immaculate. One of the best cleaning jobs I have ever seen. I wouldn't call the rooms 5 star (maybe 3 at best) because it isn't luxurious. Its new, clean and comfortable. And, that was fine. You are given slippers and robes. Mini bar was stocked wtih beer, fruit and water. We had some chips and sweets as well. We stayed in building 1B room 30133 It was a GREAT location. Close to the quiet pool and the primier lobby which gave us access to a very nice bar and the Cozumel buffet.

Pools:
They are large, clean and amazing. Only problem is that the water was very warm. The weather was almost unbearable between 12 noon-4pm. Early morning or late evening swims are recommended. We could find chairs but ensuring a shady spot was sometimes difficult until after noon. They also have two tiny jacuzzi only pools which were fresher. The jacuzzi water movement cooled down the water. Go to the pool in the a.m. or later afternoon. Otherwise..go to the beach.

The beach:
We stayed mostly on the COBA beach. The beach is broken down into three segments. We could always find chairs and an umbrella. The water was rocky in parts but there are also clear parts to wade or swim in. The water was refreshing and a great relief from the heat. A problem with the beach is getting access to food. the COBA beach is close the buffet at Akumul. You can get food there during the buffet hours. After that, it is a long walk to any snack bar. So bring food with you if you want to snack.

Food:
We ate at the COBA main buffet, Cozumel premier buffet at the COBA, and at the Akumul Buffet. The COBA main buffet was large, air conditioned, and had many food choices. The Cozumel buffet was much smaller than the main buffet but we felt that the food was given more attention and the comotion of people coming and going was much less. Akumul Buffet wasn't air conditioned at we ate at lunch time..which was at the height of the heat. Buffet choices were large. There should be something for everyone. Some items in the warmers were cold. They have many grilling stations where cooks are constantly preparing meats and seafood. Get your food there. It is fresh and hot. The Gala Theme night at the COBA main lobby was great. It also happen to be survey night so everything was on point. Crab legs, shrimp, paella amazing food. The mexican food section was also very yummy. So if you like mexican food....big score!! We ate so much guacomole..so delicious. We ate at two a la cartes. Le Gourmet was horrible and gave me a terrible upset stomach for 24 hours. El Charro was good. its mexican so how can it not be good. I would recommend sticking with the buffet. Because if you don't like what you picked, you can get up and select something else. American theme night was terrible. Go to an ala carte that night! Liquor at the main bars in all the lobbies had good quality liquor and better service. Pool bars were rushed, poor quality liquor and poor preparation. I am a wine drinker. If you can get some spanish wine at the main buffet...it was decent. We drank a lot of Cava..the spanish sparkling wine. Margartias at the main buffet were the best. Ask for the good tequila..sauza or jose cuervo. Otherwise they use terrible tequila. Snack bars get you by if you were starving. Some fresh fruits, rice, beans, and meat. They also had fries, hot dogs and hamburgers. It wasn't anything special.

Excursions:
We went on one excurision..Garrafon. It was $199 per person for the full experience and a 14 hour day. You go to Cancun to board a boat (and have breakfast on the boat) to Isle Mujeres. Upon arriving, we had the royal swim adventure with the dolphins (AMAZING!!!) and then you could snorkel with sharks/and or sting rays. After that, you were taken by taxi (no charge) to the Garrafon national park on the Isle de Mujeres. There was zip lining, lunch buffet, infinity pool, great snorkeling, kayaking etc. Great excursion but a very long day with about 6 hours of transportation (between bus and boats)You may want to choose an excurision that is close to the hotel.

SPA:
We used the spa for a couples 80 min massage. Very professional and great spa.

Playa del Carmen:
We took a collectivo to Playa del Carmen. It was $2 a person and we arrived quickly. they don't drop you off at the center, so know where 5th ave is or ask directions...head towards the beach. Getting back was quick and easy too. The fill every seat..a bit tight. Knowing a bit of spanish is recommended. If you are lacking a sense of adventure, take the collectivo there as you will be with people from your hotel. Coming back take a taxi ($30). Playa del Carmen was a small town that has many touristy shops. It was too hot to shop and we returned within a hour.

Check out:
One of the problems we had occurred at check out at 5:30 a.m. We billed charges to our room. We wanted to put it on a credit card but they told us their system was down and we had to cough up the payment in cash at the hotel exchange rip off rate...which cost us $36 more dollars then we expected to pay. First he said the system was down for five minutes and then he stated it doesn't come on until 6:30am. My advice, check out during the after noon the day before when all the managers and people at the front desk are around. Arrived at the airport 3 hours early. Killed some time by eating and shopping.

Pros:The hotel is large, has many activites, you have exchange abilities to use all the three hotels pools, buffets, al la cartes etc. Service was friendly. The grounds, room, facilites were amazingly clean.

Cons: Far from the airport. Facility is large and much of the getting around is by their carts. Very hot this time of year.

Please feel free to email me with questions. I am sure there are many things I didn't cover.
noellina@hotmail.com