I stayed at Playa Azul this past October for the first time and stayed in an oceanfront suite. We just did the breakfast plan. It was quite nice. We rented a car from Isis and we parked in there parking lot when we came into town. There are so many options in Cozumel to choose from. I am sure whatever you choose will be great...you´ll be in Cozumel!!
I went up to Playa Azul a couple times to check it out while diving in Cozumel. The staff was very nice and showed me several rooms very nice rooms. It is on the quiet side of town with a very nice beach and pier. The rooms were very nice and very clean.
They have a dive operator on site, Pro Dive. Pro Dive is also located on the south side of the island at one of the big hotels, I think the Allegro, as well as Playa Del Carman and Puerto Aventurus down by Tulum. From what I've read they have a very good reputation. The only drawback to using Pro Dive at Playa Azul is the added time it takes to get to the southern dive sites by boat. But, if you rent a vehicle you can load your gear and drive to the hotel on the south side of the island and pick up their boat there, which puts you 5-10 minutes to the dive sites. They show a van on their web site but I'm not sure if it runs north to south on Cozumel daily or just on the mainland.
The last time I was there (not staying, but checking it out) they had just initiated an AI program, which included all top shelf bar items as well as everything on their menu.
They are right across from the golf course and I've been told you can stroll the course in the evenings (just watch out for the critters)
Playa Azul is a very nice, small (less than 50 rooms I think) and as mentioned, on the very quiet side of town, but very close to town. You can walk to town but it is a bit further away than say SCC or Hotel Cozumel on the south side so you would probably be taking a cab most of the time.
I was very impressed with what I saw. They get excellent ratings on Trip Advisor as does Pro Dive. Check them out if you have time and don't want to be all the way on the south side of the island.
