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Thank you for your detailed response. I was concerned about the distance from town, so I'm glad to have it confirmed. You like Hotel Cozumel? People seem to have strong reactions about the place. [/QUOTE]We used to stay at Casa Del Mar, but have switched to Hotel Cozumel. Casa Del Mar is very worn, and some years were worse than others. If you stay there, you MUST get the upgraded room. There is a significant difference in the rooms, including that standard rooms have no balcony.
In the summer, they host a student program and so the hotel is filled with young students, I think upper high school age. They used to crowd the lobby, but this changed once the Internet was extended to the hotel rooms, and not just the lobby. I didn't mind the students, but a couple of the adults in our party did.
The best feature is that there is some shade at the swim up bar. The bartenders are very good and personable. They have a lovely garden near the restaurant and pool. There are bottled water fountains on each floor of the hotel so water is always available.
Since we stopped going there, a Latin beach club was built on the waterfront. It seems to be oriented to cruise ships, and is not included in the hotel price. I've read that the loud music interferes with enjoyment of the pool. The waterfront must be pretty small without that space.
Their pier is very convenient, and great if your dive op picks you up there.
The location is a bit far from town, and the main reason we switched. We spend less on cabs now.
Ernesto's is across the street. We loved having breakfast at Ernesto's before diving, where we watched the businesses getting ready for their day, cruise ships pulling in and discharging passengers, Roberta's Scuba Shack divers arriving and getting ready, etc. Javier, the churro guy, used to stop at Ernesto's each morning and we would buy churros from him.
When you stay there, you may have free use of Nachi Cocom. (I don't know if this has changed.) it is a very nice beach club to the south. Sometimes we had our dive boat drop us there after diving, and just took a cab back to the hotel after enjoying the beach and lunch for a couple of hours.
Not my favorite airport, but plenty of time.
Funny how that works. It's just a hotel. Looking on my go-to site for hotel bookings, I see some odd listings for some of these properties. If I was booking, I might call them first to ask them to explain.You like Hotel Cozumel? People seem to have strong reactions about the place.
Funny how that works. It's just a hotel. Looking on my go-to site for hotel bookings, I see some odd listings for some of these properties. If I was booking, I might call them first to ask them to explain.
Casa del Mar shows unavailable August 21-28. The hotel is open prior to that, and we know that the town is virtually empty, so I have to wonder.
Casa Mexicana shows unavailable for all of August, opening September 1. As low as occupancy is, they may have closed until then to cut costs, but I wonder if that's accurate.
Hotel Cozumel shows Standard room, pool view, free cancelation, breakfast for two at $68/night. Partial ocean view at $84/night. Get real.
The same Hotel Cozumel All Inclusive listing also includes Standard room, pool view, free cancelation, breakfast for two at $104/night. Who is in charge here? Actual All Inclusive is showing $128/night. For two people that's possibly appealing compared to $104 but not compared to $68.
I guess booking sites like Hotels.com are laying people off during the lull, but I wonder if their scaled back workforce is even working.
It's a trusted traveler program, good at all US ports but only some foreign ports. See below link (Mexico is one)I have Global Entry. Does that make a difference coming back from Mexico?
I checked my findings at Kayak.com too, and they were similar for Casa del Mar and Casa Mexicana: unavailable for the targeted dates at least, August 23-September 3.Hotels are limited to 30% occupancy - maybe Casa Del Mar is at capacity for that week. Casa Mexicana is closed, rumors of remodeling but they are closed.
The prices at Hotel Cozumel, well, we're all confused down here......