Review Casa Mexicana

[cicopo]

Thanks for the pricing info. That's a good rate for that time of year. The reason I asked is because I have priced most options when trying to attend the air show in April (which may be a thing of the past now) & the rates I've found weren't that different than what I get at Hotel Cozumel which has the extras a resort style property has. At low times the rate for Hotel Cozumel even throws in the AI option at no cost. (It's not the bargain you got for 2 per room though in the busy seasons).

 

[deepsea21]

Good review.

We've been staying at the Casa for 14 or 15 years now. I don't drink the tap water there even though it is purified. I don't know why I don't drink it as I've consumed the Casa's ice in large amounts on every trip and drink from the water in the lobby in the AM that all comes from the same place. Just habit I guess as my wife only wants to drink water from those huge jugs available at the Mega that I have to buy and haul back to the room every few days. I've never bothered to ask about the water feeding the showers and toilets and assume that is not purified so for those who brush their teeth in the shower I'm not sure I'd go swallowing a bunch of it.

The wrist band they give us when we check in gets tossed in the trash before we ever put it on. The Casa staff comes around at breakfast and asks for your room # when you're sitting at a table anyway (obviously over time the Casa has learned that wrist bands can get passed around to those not staying there or at one of their sister hotels pretty easily).

I am surprised you only found the breakfast buffet food to be adequate as I find it to be fantastic but I'm no foodie when it comes to free all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet food. If someone has a special request or wants something that isn't on the buffet I've seen Jaime or Jimmy place a special order with the kitchen for a few guests and personally deliver it (all free of course) but I have no idea how those guests couldn't find something to eat on that huge buffet.

Multi-plugs area a good idea... We have a little plug in 1-to-3 that takes no space and turns one outlet into three so you end up with 4 outlets from one common set of 2. 17? years ago when the Casa was built there wasn't a fraction of the stuff we travel with today that needs daily charging.

Anyway, as you said there was good and bad but good enough that you are booked again for April. At the end of the day, you can spend 2-3x as much staying elsewhere on the island or at other dive destinations but you sure won't get 2-3x the experience and quality a 3P's dive and stay package with Casa accommodations provides. In my book the 3P's Casa combo is the best dive and stay value in the Caribbean for what I want (but that is just me of course).

 

[Streydog]

Is brushing your teeth in the shower a common practice?

 

[ggunn]

Multi-plugs area a good idea... We have a little plug in 1-to-3 that takes no space and turns one outlet into three so you end up with 4 outlets from one common set of 2. 17? years ago when the Casa was built there wasn't a fraction of the stuff we travel with today that needs daily charging.

A couple of power strips is permanently in my Cozumel travel kit.

 

[uncfnp]

A couple of power strips is permanently in my Cozumel travel kit.

Same here but for all my travels. I just ordered one with USB plugs as well. Should arrive tomorrow. I will check to make sure it charges my iphones and ipads then it will go into the bags.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Shhhhhhhh! All these good reviews are raising the prices! We have always paid $70-$80 for a atrium view king room regardless if we booked through Hotels.com or called direct. I just checked Hotels .com and it was over $90. Our first trip was with Blue Magic and used their "sleep and dive" package and it worked out to $50-$60 a night....but that was 4 or 5 years ago...

See y'all in October!
Jay

 

[Dogbowl]

Well, if we’re gonna talk “back in the day”...I paid $40/night at the Casa back in 2009/2010!

And yes, let’s stop advertising our favourite hotel so the prices don’t go through the roof!

Although the troubles in Playa are a factor now.

 

[AggieDiver]

I think I have the record for cheapest Casa Mexicana stay...except we had to stay there through Hurricane Wilma to get it. I think they charged us $6 each for the 8 nights we were there. Not $6/night...$6 total...per person. I seem to recall at that time that CM had a reverse osmosis purification plant in their basement along with an emergency generator. Has something changed that now has people worried about the quality of the water there?

 

[deepsea21]

OK... My best room rate at the Casa? Peak of the Great Recession, $27/night delux ocean view all taxes included! San Miguel (and the Casa) was an absolute ghost town. I remember dining at Casa Denis for dinner and either Baltazar or Martin just kept bringing us drink after drink for free to keep us sitting there after we were done with dinner so the place would look more appealing to the few others walking by... We were the only 2 dining there from about 6 to 7:30PM. Free drinks started for us around 7PM. We finally had to leave around 8:30PM or they would have had to carry us back to the Casa. They say the US economy catches a cold, the islands get the flu... When the US sees recession like that the islands may as well have terminal cancer.