We enjoyed this beautiful property and the excellent service. It is very lush and green in an island forest but a short walk to the ocean. We liked the quiet, peaceful environment at the Explorean while still having access to Fiesta Americana resort, which has a more upbeat vibe. Loved it!
Nestling snugly behind the Fiesta Americana is The Explorean Cozumel. Delightful thatched cottages with balconies overlooking the tree line; the figs are filled with hummingbirds and iguanas, the latter sunbathing lazily. Fresh coffee and orange juice are delivered to one's door each morning. You awake refreshed from a good night's sleep and sit enjoying the forest whilst sipping a morning cup of joe. And then breakfast, which is delicious Mexican food. There are beers or cocktails aplenty as you rest on a lounger beside the emerald green jungle pool. Perhaps you want a swim? I swam countless lengths in the cooling water, feeling one with nature as I passed beneath the shading canopy of tropical hardwoods. Lunch is always a treat here, dinner an experience. The staff are, to a person, incredibly warm and friendly. At night-time, the lights slung above a path through the forest is delightful. The neighbouring Fiesta Americana doesn't have a beach club at present. There is, however, access to a rocky shore, beneath whose surface are waters teeming with fish and other marine life. The shoreline snorkelling there is great. So is the pool, with a friendly bar where one can sit in the warm water whilst enjoying a pina colada or ice-cold cerveza. The entertainment there is fun, the Explorean's excursions fantastic. Needless to say, El Cielo was the highlight of the week on Cozumel. One last thing, a big shout out to our American fellow guests, whose warmth and friendliness made us feel as though we had known them all our lives. The Explorean was a week of sunshine and luxury. After which, onto the Riu Yucatan for the first time in a quarter of a century...…
The Explorean Cozumel is overall a great resort, especially for visitors who are visiting the island for the first time. The key feature that distinguishes this resort from others in the area is that this resort provides one excursion per day, which is included in the price of the room. Excursions include kayaking, a day trip to Punta Sur (including a visit to the lighthouse and crocodile preserve), snorkeling at El Cielo, bicycling to a local cenote, and a trip to the educational Pueblo del Maiz. Our tour guides, including Armando, Vega, Julio, and Edgar, were very friendly and did a great job of educating us about the history of the island and Mayan culture on these trips. Another plus of the Explorean Cozumel is that it is the sister resort to the larger Fiesta Americana. Fiesta American is only steps away from the Explorean and offers a number of other dining options, a nicer pool, and daily nighttime entertainment (ranging from a mariachi band to karaoke night). The Explorean is really the best of both worlds and offers dining and entertainment options that will satisfy most visitors. The rooms are spacious and have great air conditioning. They are tucked into a beautifully landscaped, lush jungle setting and are quieter and more private than the more social Fiesta Americana. The staff brings breakfast baskets with pastries, coffee, and juice every morning, but you can also grab breakfast at the on-site restaurant or in the Fiesta Americana restaurants. The staff was generally very friendly and did a great job of making our visit relaxing and enjoyable. Despite all of these great features, there were a few bumps along the way that resulted in a 4-star rating instead of 5 stars. First, as others as have mentioned, the beach club is not open (even though plenty of people were hanging out near the ocean). The set-up looked amazing (Bali beds looking right out onto the ocean), so we were sad to not have had the opportunity to experience it. Second, we felt that the timeshare representative we were assigned (Mariana) made the 90-minute pitch uncomfortable for us (they don't push the session on you, so knowing what I know now, I would recommend that you save yourself some grief and skip it). Overall, despite a few misses, the Explorean was a great place to stay and is great for first-time visitors and couples!…
We had a lovely experience at the Explorean! I loved that all of the staff was so friendly and attentive. There was one staff member that was too pushy with trying to sell other vacation packages to us and that made us feel uncomfortable as he asked us at least 3 times. We had an amazing time on the excursions (highly recommend the kayaking trip!). Overall a great experience. If you have any concerns, the staff are quick to resolve them!
We visited the Explorean and stayed in a casita. This hotel is part of the neighboring Fiesta Americana next door. We purchased the all inclusive package. The food, room, and service were fantastic. My room was cleaned every day. The bed was super comfy and the air conditioning worked perfectly.There is a fully stocked mini fridge with beer, water ,and sodas. It is restocked daily. We found the service to be wonderful . All staff was so friendly and accommodating. There are some things that need repairs like the back pool but the staff is constantly working around the resort to fix things. With the all inclusive, you have privileges at both hotels. There is always food available at the buffet as well as at the pool. You simply order what you want from pool wait staff. There are a couple other smaller restaurants plus a really cute coffee bar.Plenty of free drinks with great selections of well drinks and beer. Too many choices to name all the great food and drinks. The front pool area is gorgeous, well staffed, and loaded with comfy chairs and umbrellas. The beach area is right across the street and is very beautiful.. However, since it's the winter/ cruise ship season , the beach restaurant ,and bar area are not open. It is still accessible to sit and swim and enjoy, you will just need a quick walk to the pool area for food and drinks .There is nightly entertainment in the hotel lobby which we found to be very enjoyable. In the mornings the staff leaves a cute breakfast basket by your door with coffee, juice and, muffins. The hotel is about a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport for under $20usd. The hotel will call you a taxi and assist in getting you a rental car. We found the Explorean hotel to be a hidden gem in Cozumel!!! I will definitely return to this beautiful resort. Pros: Almost everything Cons: Back pool needs a few repairs, the walkway to the casitas needs a bit more light at night…
This we thought would be a quiet, relaxing hotel but very disappointing. Pool area is in disrepair and the children and nursing mothers tend to be in the hot tub so there is little room for adults without children. We managed to get in once in 7 days.. The organised excursions are ok when they actually get started. If many people arrive there is no organisation. Can not fault the staff but as this is my first impression of Mexico I will not be returning.
We joined three other couples for a week at Explorean/Feista American, all inclusive. The five restaurants were varied and offered something for everyone. They also offered little pop-up dining opportunities throughout the day. The bars were well stocked. The facility is great but could use a little TLC and that was in process. They are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic slowdown but that was a minimal issue. The highlight were the tours and the staff that supported them. Julio, Armando and Edgar were engaging and professional. There were others who's names escape me but the entire staff were gracious and always on call. Featuring several pools it was kid friendly.
We stayed at the Explorean which gives you full access to the Fiesta Americana, we spent most of our time at the Fiesta Americana facilities. Room: We really appreciated that you only have neighbors on one wall because you are in a four-plex. It was super quiet and very restful. Appreciated that the bathroom is separate from the rest of the room. There are NO TV's in the rooms, which is fine because the internet is strong. Daily excursions: You are assigned excursions at check in and you will not have one on check in/out day. We were assigned snorkeling 3 out of the 4 days and asked to substitute some and were told its very hard to do. In short, you have to show up and just hope that other people don't show up to take their spot. The time that would take for a slim chance wasn't worth it so we did not go to half of them. We also noticed those who book directly with the hotel (not Expedia) had better excursions assigned which was disappointing. We enjoyed the island tour, especially the stop at the beach on the other side of the Island (bring cash!). Sit on left side of the bus for the best views of the ocean headed back to the hotel. Food: Do the tasting dinner! Exclusive beach view seating with some amazing courses. Italian food was a clear winner, followed closely by the Mexican restaurant. Steaks/Tuna ask for a level down from the temperature you usually order they tend to over shoot the temperature which is common in Mexico so this gives you usually what you are looking for. The seafood lunch spot was very tasty we had the whole fish almost every day and it was wonderful. Breakfast buffet is run of the mill. If you are staying at the Explorean skip the restaurant there, that was the only meal we left disappointed. Bar: Good service, mid grade liquor comes standard. Lots of flavored vodka which isn't something we see at other spots. No knock off brands used from what we could see. Service: Arturo, the dining Captain, is a gem of Fiesta Americanal! He was attentive, quickly grew to know our preferences and ensured our dinning was always excellent. We spoke to several other guests who also mentioned how thoughtful Arturo was. Coffee shop: We love coffee so having a barista all day was a huge plus for us. Cappuccinos were more wet than we prefer but they figured out our preference quickly. Beach: The beach is closed BUT thats actually great news for people like us who prefer less people. It's a super short walk (2-3 minutes) to the bar/restaurant and bathrooms. We brought lunch down to the beach each day. They maintain the beach lap pool and we never had to share it. BEACH TIP: Because the beach is technically closed there is no service or lounges/mats. Bring 6ft long beach mats to lay out on as well as large beach towel clips to secure when you hop in the pool or ocean. We raided our mini fridge for canned beer and water and then had them fill thermoses with mixed drinks to cut down on trips back to the resort. Pool: The Fiesta Americana pool is great and service was plentiful. The women who work the day shift (Sophia and Flavia) are very friendly and we joined the kiddos in morning crafts (friendship bracelets, keychains, etc) which was surprisingly fun. The Explorean pool is beat up and the hot tub is not hot. Photos made the pool seem much larger. Not many guests spent time at it which made it easy to lounge there. Entertainment: Starts at 8 each evening. Smaller productions. We really enjoyed the Karaoke night because the guests were in it to win it. This was a smaller location than we were used to which turned out to be nice because you can form casual friendships with the other guests. We will return in the future.…
Overall we had an excellent stay. The food and service at both Explorean and Fiesta Americana were outstanding. The excursions were all very fun, although we had to sign up for some alternative excursions than what were originally chosen for us to make our experience better(we were not originally scheduled for the snorkeling trip to El Cielo, which were really wanted to do. We also chose to do the bike ride to the Cenote instead of a bus ride around the island because we aren't really into shopping or tequila tasting. We were not guaranteed these changes, but had to show up at the time of the excursion to be put on the wait list. Ultimately we did get to go, but it was an added step). I feel like they do a great job planning the excursions, but it would be nice to have it a little more tailored to each individual's preferences (i.e a survey prior to arrival, or something similar). All of the excursions were fun and enjoyable. Another suggestion ...the guides were excellent about taking photos on the tours, but it would be nice to have a website for them to upload the photos to, so they are all in one place. If you enjoy snorkeling, be sure to bring some snorkel equipment so you can snorkel at your leisure. There are some excellent snorkeling spots right in front of the resort! We also enjoyed using the bicycles. We rode into town one day and south of the resort another day, along the ocean. The road is a one-way and not too busy, so it was good for biking. I would give 5+ score if the beach club was back open. We were glad we could still use the beach/ocean entry for snorkeling, but we felt like we missed out a little bit when we couldn't eat lunch with the incredible view by the ocean or sit on lounge chairs on the beach. The hotel did the best they could to accommodate the food services elsewhere, but it really wasn't the same experience as eating/lounging by the ocean. Additionally, we were disappointed that the hottub by the pool at Explorean was not warm. Other than this, we enjoyed all the other aspects of the resort. We had an amazing week, but probably would only consider coming back if the beach club was back open.…
Absolutely not what we expected. I don't know what the niche is with this place, but if you don't have a beach, you have to at least have a good pool, never mind a GREAT pool. The pool here was dilapidated. The room was okay, but overall the place was lacking. Previous reviews are misleading in any sense of satisfaction with this resort. The gimmick is that you have access to the facilities at Fiesta Americana. Well, why not just stay at Fiesta Americana? Took a shared shuttle that stopped at other resorts on the way, and without fail, a doorman/bellhop opened the taxi door and assisted with luggage. NOT HERE. No one met us at the car, the bags were left at the curb by the taxi driver, and we were pointed down a path to check-in. Had 5 nights reservation, but left the next morning and checked in to another resort and had a much better experience. Don't be fooled by the positive reviews. This place needs help.…
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