Hotel Cozumel - Meal plan or do your own thing

[SandyRobinson]

I am thinking about a trip to Cozumel next spring and will consider Hotel Cozumel. I will most likely (but not 100%) skip the meal plan so I can experience some of the restaurants off the beaten path. However for those of you who have purchased the meal plan at Hotel Cozumel, would you do it again or would you do your own thing? Also, if you do not purchase the meal plan, can one still dine there occasionally at a reasonable cost?

Lastly, do they have a house reef for a night dive?

Thanks for your help.

 

[cookielady]

We always do the meal plan. The cost difference is so minimal that we figured if we ate only one meal a day and had a drink or two it more than payed for itself.

 

[cicopo]

The cost of the AI option is easily recovered by having breakfast & a few drinks throughout the day, whether they be soft drinks or beer etc. I booked again for Feb & with the AI package. You'll find links to my reviews / trip reports & Scubaboard comments in my Hotel Cozumel album, plus I did a short album on my shore dives last trip.

Picasa Web Albums - Larry

 

[kmurray719]

I guess it depends on what the meal plan costs. Last time I was there, my rate included breakfast, and the full AI was $39/day (on orbitz, the hotel quoted me $65 if I wanted to add it!) I spent much less than $40/day to eat elsewhere (not a big drinker), and had food much better than the food at the hotel. It wouldn't have been worth it to me. This time around (this coming Nov), the AI option was $5/day. That's a no-brainer--breakfast alone would be more than that! We will eat breakfast and luch at the hotel most days and still eat dinner in town.

When I last stayed there, I had lunch at the pool grill most days and it cost about $7 for a club sandwich or fajitas and a soda. The dinner buffet was around $16 (and not worth that at all!). I don't know what breakfast cost as it was included.

There is no "house reef" per se, but there is "stuff" to see off the shore there. It won't be like doing a night dive from a boat, but if you just want to get wet it would suffice. You can rent tanks and weights from Dive Paradise, but I'm not sure how that would work for a night dive.

 

[dmoore19]

Breakfast at Hotel Cozumel is good. Lunch is OK and dinner is sometimes good. I have always had the AI but generally eat breakfast and lunch there because it is convenient. If I am tired after the day of diving I have eaten at the Hotel because I didn't feel like leaving, again it is convenient. Most evenings it is nice to take a walk into town to have dinner. I have gone on group trips with the LDS and it is part of the package so I have never really looked at the cost/day aspect though.

 

[DandyDon]

As mentioned, it depends on the cost. I have seen some packages on Orbitz and CheapCaribbean.com where it was cheap, sometimes no cheap. My last trip was cheap: In spite of high air fares (from Lubbock around $550), I got air, private room, food & drinks for $780.

Breakfast at Hotel Cozumel is good. Lunch is OK and dinner is sometimes good. I have always had the AI but generally eat breakfast and lunch there because it is convenient. If I am tired after the day of diving I have eaten at the Hotel because I didn't feel like leaving, again it is convenient. Most evenings it is nice to take a walk into town to have dinner. I have gone on group trips with the LDS and it is part of the package so I have never really looked at the cost/day aspect though.

Yep, usually worth it for the breakfasts, lunches, drinks alone. The couple who were meeting me there had to cancel so I usually just stayed for dinner rather than walk in or pay for a cab alone, and the dinners weren't bad. Hell, I took my quart thermos and had the waiter fill it - half coffee, half cheap coffee liqueur. Then back to the room to log on here, except the internet was dreadfully slow.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Breakfast at Hotel Cozumel is good. Lunch is OK and dinner is sometimes good. I have always had the AI but generally eat breakfast and lunch there because it is convenient. If I am tired after the day of diving I have eaten at the Hotel because I didn't feel like leaving, again it is convenient. Most evenings it is nice to take a walk into town to have dinner. I have gone on group trips with the LDS and it is part of the package so I have never really looked at the cost/day aspect though.

+1 Well said

You can night dive right there, but it's not the most exciting place, but will suffice if needed. You might ask the folks right there at Dive Paradise about doing a boat night dive. Perhaps there will be a few others wanting to do the same, and it's usually cheap.

 

[cicopo]

From memory the cost this trip was around $15 per person per day, which is in line with previous trips (which are almost always Jan-Feb). I thought the dinners were much better last trip than on any trip post Wilma. Pre Wilma they had theme nights & the Seafood night was awesome, but slow because they cooked whatever you chose while you waited.

 

[scubatree]

We also go with the all inclusive. We will usually eat breakfast and a lot of lunches there, and if you throw in a few drinks it is well worth it. With the price we still feel comfortable eating dinner "out" at some of our favorite restraunts, but when your tired and do not want to go anywhere it is convenient.

 

[staffybull]

We went in June and skipped the meal plan. Our deal came with free breakfast which was pretty good but I'm not much of a breakfast eater. I definitely enjoyed eating out on the island.