hotel recommendations?
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Depth Gauge
Contributor
El Presidente gets my vote hands down. A slice of paradise.
scuba-girl
Registered
we were just down there 9/10 and it was not that big of a deal. the hotel on the outside appeared fine and the people who we dove w/ said it was very nice on the inside. when we go bk in feb we are considering staying there
Banon
Contributor
We've stayed at a few. Here's the short take on the ones I can think of right now:
Reef Club: decent rooms, average AI food, good beach, lots of people, big resort, can be lots of walking to get to the dock/restaurants/bars depending on which room you are in, 15-20 minutes cab to town, upper stories have balconies to dry your stuff when you are through diving, bathtubs in rooms for a nicer gear rinse if you like, I've learned that i like to be closer to town so this is outside the area I would stay, if you don't want to leave the resort this is ok if you get a good price
Allegro: see Reef Club but a little nicer, too far from town for me now
El Presidente: see Allegro but nicer yet, too far from town for me now
Plaza las Glorias: my personal favorite for price and amenities, walking distance to town, nice pool, nice dock, nice bar, big rooms, fridge in room, balcony, bathtub, across the street from Chedraui (sp?) which is the Cozumel Walmart (easy to get a twelvepack and some water for the fridge), no real beach but they have a nice sandy area with stair access to the water, they were closed or are going to close for remodelling (not sure of dates), I like to stay here when price is competitive
Vista del Mar: boutique hotel down one of the alleys in town, balconies for outer rooms overlook the main road and the water (basically over the sidewalk), great for sitting on the balcony with a beer and people watching, balconies for inner rooms overlook the little shopping area in the alley, nice big rooms, shower only/no bathtub, fridge, continental breakfast included and delivered to room, I was worried that it might be noisy so close to the road but we didn't have any problems (traffic gets quiet by 10PM and we were up for diving in the morning before the cruise ship traffic started), inexpensive, I would stay here again on trips with just my wife and me, but not with a big group. Some dive shops won't pick up at town docks, check with them first.
Park Royal (the old Sol Caribe): private beach area, nice dock, below average AI food except for the breakfast omelete bar, nice pool area and bar, rooms can be nice but are somewhat rundown (eg shower might leak, or toilet might not flush until fixed, or cushions might not be on chairs for a day or two, etc), this place could be very nice but it's like they are scrimping on maintenance, bathtub, reasonably short cab to town, I'd have to check things out before I stay here again
Villa Blanca: upgraded rooms are nice, standard rooms are not, across the road from the water, no beach, we stayed in a standard room (mistake) which didn't have a balcony, upgraded rooms had balconies as I recall, bathtubs, short cab to town, I'd stay here again (in the upgraded rooms) if price was right
Fiesta American: nice resort hotel with everything you would expect, short cab to town, nice pool, no fridge, I'd stay here again if price was right
Casa del Mar: short cab to town, standard rooms are fine, cabanas are AWESOME, AI is optional and fairly good, decent pool and bar, I'd stay here again if price was right
Brisas, formerly Costa Club, formerly Hotel Fiesta Inn: HUGE pool and hottub, average AI food, short cab to town, nice rooms with balconies, bathtub, I'd stay here again if price was right
Summary: all have various things to offer. Reef Club, Allegro, and Presidente are too far out for my taste, but if you want an AI and don't care about leaving the resort, you can pick your level of "niceness" and price from these. Park Royal seems on the way down so I'd check closely before staying there again. The rest are within my "shopping" range.
There are lots of other places in Cozumel. Some of the review sites have great writeups you can use to compare.
I hope this was moderately useful!
Banon
Reef Club: decent rooms, average AI food, good beach, lots of people, big resort, can be lots of walking to get to the dock/restaurants/bars depending on which room you are in, 15-20 minutes cab to town, upper stories have balconies to dry your stuff when you are through diving, bathtubs in rooms for a nicer gear rinse if you like, I've learned that i like to be closer to town so this is outside the area I would stay, if you don't want to leave the resort this is ok if you get a good price
Allegro: see Reef Club but a little nicer, too far from town for me now
El Presidente: see Allegro but nicer yet, too far from town for me now
Plaza las Glorias: my personal favorite for price and amenities, walking distance to town, nice pool, nice dock, nice bar, big rooms, fridge in room, balcony, bathtub, across the street from Chedraui (sp?) which is the Cozumel Walmart (easy to get a twelvepack and some water for the fridge), no real beach but they have a nice sandy area with stair access to the water, they were closed or are going to close for remodelling (not sure of dates), I like to stay here when price is competitive
Vista del Mar: boutique hotel down one of the alleys in town, balconies for outer rooms overlook the main road and the water (basically over the sidewalk), great for sitting on the balcony with a beer and people watching, balconies for inner rooms overlook the little shopping area in the alley, nice big rooms, shower only/no bathtub, fridge, continental breakfast included and delivered to room, I was worried that it might be noisy so close to the road but we didn't have any problems (traffic gets quiet by 10PM and we were up for diving in the morning before the cruise ship traffic started), inexpensive, I would stay here again on trips with just my wife and me, but not with a big group. Some dive shops won't pick up at town docks, check with them first.
Park Royal (the old Sol Caribe): private beach area, nice dock, below average AI food except for the breakfast omelete bar, nice pool area and bar, rooms can be nice but are somewhat rundown (eg shower might leak, or toilet might not flush until fixed, or cushions might not be on chairs for a day or two, etc), this place could be very nice but it's like they are scrimping on maintenance, bathtub, reasonably short cab to town, I'd have to check things out before I stay here again
Villa Blanca: upgraded rooms are nice, standard rooms are not, across the road from the water, no beach, we stayed in a standard room (mistake) which didn't have a balcony, upgraded rooms had balconies as I recall, bathtubs, short cab to town, I'd stay here again (in the upgraded rooms) if price was right
Fiesta American: nice resort hotel with everything you would expect, short cab to town, nice pool, no fridge, I'd stay here again if price was right
Casa del Mar: short cab to town, standard rooms are fine, cabanas are AWESOME, AI is optional and fairly good, decent pool and bar, I'd stay here again if price was right
Brisas, formerly Costa Club, formerly Hotel Fiesta Inn: HUGE pool and hottub, average AI food, short cab to town, nice rooms with balconies, bathtub, I'd stay here again if price was right
Summary: all have various things to offer. Reef Club, Allegro, and Presidente are too far out for my taste, but if you want an AI and don't care about leaving the resort, you can pick your level of "niceness" and price from these. Park Royal seems on the way down so I'd check closely before staying there again. The rest are within my "shopping" range.
There are lots of other places in Cozumel. Some of the review sites have great writeups you can use to compare.
I hope this was moderately useful!
Banon
Hi! I just got back yesterday, stayed at the Caribe Blu (altho everyone still calls it the Lorena and that's what you have to tell cab drivers if you don't want them getting lost) all last week. The dock is still damaged and from what the owner Ale was saying it does not sound like it will be repaired by the 18th. Having said that, we were still able to work around it - there's a narrower spot you have to cross to get to the boat each morning, but it wasn't really a problem.
MgicTwnger
Contributor
I stayed there last January. There is a beach with a bar/snack bar. Beach is OK, water is rocky and difficult to enter and exit. Nice having Dive Paradise and Papa Hog's right there.aquasport:
Check out the deals with Bay Adventures, great bang for the buck. This place is not the Ritz, but has a kind of goofy, friendly atmosphere that we enjoyed. Nancy, an American expat who runs the snack bar, is a treasure.
I definately would suggest upgrading from a standard room.
Moodiejeff
Contributor
Banon:
Just a quick correction... Fiesta Americana is FARTHER from town than the Presidente.
Taucher
Guest
I enjoy Scuba Club Cozumel. My wife and I will be making our third trip there this January. We just booked and got their buy one get second at half price deal. The food is great, and it's a nice twenty minute walk to downtown. I could go on and on, let me know if your interested in any specifics.
Would it be because they're so far out and the layout is not to diver friendly, or could it be the on site operator gives meaning to the name "cattleboat"? We got a great deal on the Junior suites through an owner, so we just got back from spending a week there. We WON'T be going back, but the food was ok, the pools are nice, well landscaped, but the place can get crowded. Oh, and forget and beach dives. We went to dive and to that, barring the one day we were able to get on the fast boat, it sucked, nough' said.
I second Cristi's suggestion of Casa Mexicana in town. Nice and clean, great breakfast!
I second Cristi's suggestion of Casa Mexicana in town. Nice and clean, great breakfast!
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