Where to go, what to wear?

[Dirty-Dog]

Hotel Cozumel seemed to check a lot of my boxes, but I just can't ignore all the bad reviews on Tripadvisor. I'd be really annoyed if I had to listen to bingo and dance music on a loudspeaker all night.

They have a sort of theatre area for things like that. It's positioned pretty well to keep the noise down. And remember that this is smack dab in the hurricane belt. The construction techniques used (6-8" concrete walls...) leads to the rooms being very quiet.

 

[Mike]

I think I'm going to go with Casa Mexicana. Blue Angel would have been my first choice, but they seem to be full that week. Casa Mexicana looks nice and there should be plenty to do around there when I'm done diving for the day. I briefly considered Iberostar because of the price, convenience and location near the reefs, but I just pictured myself spending all afternoon and evening watching TV in my room by myself and that's not how I want to spend my vacation. Casa Mexicana may not be the most social hotel in Cozumel but it looks nice and I think I'll find plenty to keep me occupied.

Hotel Cozumel seemed to check a lot of my boxes, but I just can't ignore all the bad reviews on Tripadvisor. I'd be really annoyed if I had to listen to bingo and dance music on a loudspeaker all night.

I don't know anything about Casa Mexicana, but I can assure you that Hotel Cozumel can be as social as you want it to be. There is a sleepy little hotel bar in it. The location is hard to beat. It has it's own house dive op (dive paradise) and with your dive count you will have nothing but a great time with them if you'd dive with them, and it's really hard to beat diving with the house op when it comes to convenience of rolling out of bed and rolling into the dive boat and rolling back out of the dive boat to the little restaurant they have there for a late lunch. The shows are funny as hell if not just because the people who put them on are dead serious about doing a good entertaining job even if there is only one grandmother from Iowa sitting in the front row watching while she knits. Really nice pool too. The rooms are pretty nice, just avoid the more expensive rooms that have 'ocean view', they suck, absolutely suck. Stick with a nice court yard room with a pool view and you'll be super happy. The hotel has a lot of guests so social wise you'll get out of it what you put into it, if you strike up conversations around the pool and the bar and espeically get to know people who are diving there on your dive boats you shouldn't feel like a loner after a couple of days.

I've never been bothered by the shows late at night, it's quite the opposite, I usually didn't even know they were doing one and missed it. They are pretty interesting, I kind of remember them as being a cross between the entertainment on the Gong Show and Mexican American Idol.

 

[cvchief]

The old rumor was Casa Mexicana has some of the softer bed, MX beds generally being stiffer.

I never was on one though.

 

[nodakdive]

I've stayed at Casa Mexicana. You're right about the social vibe and the nice proximity to the restaurants/square. The breakfast buffet is really great.

One consideration about Casa Mexicana is that it didn't seem set up for divers. It's more of a business class hotel. I'd also highly suggest getting an ocean view room for wetsuit drying, etc. Finally, if you're diving with an op that does valet gear stuff and has boats that leave from the downtown dock, you're in good shape, otherwise it's not very convenient. It's about a block from the hotel to the dock, the hotel is one story above the street, and you either have to take stairs or ride an elevator to your room. They have/had an escalator to get you up the first story to their lobby. Oh, and their "pool" is only about 3 feet deep, if that, and appeared to me to basically be for show. It *is* a nice place though. And super convenient for eating at the different restaurants.

Others will can correct me, but if I was staying downtown, I'd probably do Vista del Mar. It's probably less expensive and I think they have an agreement with Casa Mexicana regarding breakfast.

One other possibility is the Hotel Barracuda. It may have already been mentioned. As I understand, they have a busy bar area. (social consideration) It's a very easy walk "to town", really it's "in town", and either Mega or Chedraui is very close.

-Blair

 

[scubatree]

According to their web site, Cozumel Palace has the biggest pool. I won't be in it till February, but I can say categorically that the pool at Hotel Cozumel isn't particularly large.

Even partially covered with clouds the pool at Hotel Cozumel is larger than at the Palace




And the dolphins do like it:

 

[Mossman]

I recall Hotel Cozumel's pool being quite a bit larger than the Palace's, assuming that the pool is the same size as it was when it was called Fiesta Inn. But the Palace has a swim-up bar, which makes it the better pool by far.

 

[Ms. Ann Thrope]

we've stayed at Vista del Mar but not Casa Mexicana. I'm sure CM wins for breakfast and pool. I liked the rooms and balconies at the VdM. Again, I'm not really a fan of Hotel Cozumel, but in their defense, it was quiet enough at night. The organized poolside activities never went late when we were there. That loud, peppy salsa tour by the beach one afternoon was a lot more obnoxious. Casa Mexicana sounds like a fine plan.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I've stayed at Casa Mexicana as a single, and I wouldn't call it particularly social. But the location is great for walking around downtown, and you'll find lots of opportunities for socializing at the popular watering holes, like Wet Wendy's & other places. I've only stayed at Hotel Cozumel once, for the 2012 ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion, so it's hard for me to judge just how sociable it might be if there weren't 100+ crazy ScubaBoard maniacs staying there. I would DEFINITELY not do the AI option there, unless you are a heavy drinker and planning on getting your money's worth at the bar - the food is terrible. If you are looking for a sociable place, the dedicated dive operations like Blue Angel or Scuba Club are likely to be your best bets.

 

[nodakdive]

we've stayed at Vista del Mar but not Casa Mexicana. I'm sure CM wins for breakfast and pool. I liked the rooms and balconies at the VdM. Again, I'm not really a fan of Hotel Cozumel, but in their defense, it was quiet enough at night. The organized poolside activities never went late when we were there. That loud, peppy salsa tour by the beach one afternoon was a lot more obnoxious. Casa Mexicana sounds like a fine plan.

I must be confused, again. I thought that Vista del Mar included breakfast *at* Casa Mexicana? Or is it Suites Bahia? I seem to recall one of the downtown, less expensive hotels including breakfast at Casa Mexicana.

Heh. If the CM wins for a pool, it's only because it has one. For the week I was there I never saw anyone use it. It's in the lobby and very shallow. Half or all of it is shaded. Really appeared to be for show only. It's been awhile though. Stayed there right after Wilma and Casa del Mar wasn't open yet, so they put me up there. LOVED being so close to town. Dealing with gear and Casa Mexicana wasn't convenient. Deep Blue does leave from the dock though, so that was nice.

I've always wanted to try Vista del Mar or Suites Bahia. Is Bahia on the southwest corner of the malecon? Once again, I'll be with new people so we're doing the "split the difference" thing at Casa del Mar.

Sup, maybe you've done this already, but picking a dive op is a pretty good starting point. If you tell them what you're looking for they'll be able to make good suggestions. For me, Casa Mexicana worked out ok as the dive op I used left from the dock 1 block away. Had I been using a different op, I may have had to take a taxi elsewhere, for instance, to the caleta.

-Blair

 

[Ms. Ann Thrope]

I believe it's the Suites Bahia that lets you breakfast at Casa Mexicana. Vista del Mar brings you coffee and pastries to your room at a time of your choosing (though we always went out to breakfast so didn't partake).

Vista del Mar has a pool, but it kind of resembles a concrete dunk tank out back--it's neither large nor particularly attractive. VdM had fantastic air conditioning, and we knew we were going to get plenty of water time in at the Blue Angel (we enjoy having a few in-town non-dive acclimation days before jumping on the morning boat routine if we have a luxury of time), so we didn't even dip our toes in the pool. Maybe it's more pleasant than it looks! I liked Vista del Mar--the rooms were modern and comfortable; the staff was friendly; and the balcony had both comfortable chairs and a hammock chair big enough for me to stretch out. If we were using one of the downtown ops that pick up at that pier, it would probably be convenient for diving, too--I think it's the closer of the two hotels (by a hair, anyhow--they're practically next door to one another). But given the taxi fares on the island, I wouldn't be too eager to have to taxi to the caleta or elsewhere every day.