El Cozumeleno Resort
Written: Nov 11 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: El Cozumeleno is beautiful! Very attentive staff, lovely rooms, decent food.
Cons: Timeshare people, but if you tell them you're not interested they leave you alone.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for an affordable getaway, with comfortable and relaxed surroundings, this is the place!
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| gabbydana's Full Review: Cozumel |
My husband I just returned from a 1 week stay at El Cozumeleno this past Saturday and we had a wonderful time. This was our first time to Mexico, and I would come back in a second! Our room, on the 8th floor of the new tower, was great. There was one night when the A/C started making a bit of noise so I called the front desk and they came out right away and repaired it. The resort is so clean! Especially the washrooms in the common areas, which is something I really notice. All day long people are sweeping, wiping, removing used glasses around the pool areas. During meals the waiters are constantly removing used dishes and offering new drinks. Overall they are very attentive.
The food was good. Not gourmet, but good. They really made an effort to give you a lot of choices. There were different theme nights for the food – Italian, Caribbean, Mexican. During lunch and dinner you have the option of ordering from their menu. I highly recommend the grilled fish on the lunch menu. It was excellent. During dinner they really made an effort on the visual presentation of the menu items. While it may not be up to the standards we are used to in big metropolitan areas, at least they were trying!
The entertainment on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights was fun to watch. The dancers were great and the costumes very elaborate and colourful. Perhaps after watching the 3rd show you got a bit tired of the audience participation bits at the end, but at that point you have the option of slipping out, which we did after the third show.
Nino and Rosy were great – very enthusiastic about all the activities they were involved in. We did the bike tour one day – the bikes have definitely seen better days, but it was still interesting. We also did the snorkel tour with the hotel as well. They take you south on the beach where you get in the water at another hotel. They bring lots of bread with them, and throw bits into the water to attract the fish. The number of fish that came around was amazing! We ended up snorkeling all the way back to the hotel, rather than walking back, and you can see even more interesting fish on the way back. And the current actually pulls you back to the hotel, so it’s a really easy swim. If you want to snorkel right at the hotel, go to the north corner of the beach near the yellow pier. Lots of interesting fish right there.
We rented a car right at the hotel for a day to take a tour of the island. The cost was $38.00 US plus insurance. We decided to go with the hardtop because then you are able to leave your things in the car when you stop somewhere, and you have some protection from the sun from driving around. If you do go around the island, make sure you stop at a restaurant on the east side called “Coconuts” and ask to see their family album! Lots of fun! (Just don’t show the album to the kids!)
It's very easy to get a taxi in to town. Only $5 per couple, and they are always waiting outside of the hotel. Lots of interesting places to see in town - shops, bars, restaurants. It was suggested that if you're not into being in a large crowd that you not go on a Wednesday because that's when the most cruise ships are docked in town. Prices are higher for items when the cruise ships are in. Or wait until after 5 or 6 pm, because by then the cruise people have left.
If you’re planning to visit the San Gervasio ruins on the island, DEFINITELY bring bug spray! The mosquitoes are quite thick in certain parts. Mosquitoes are out in the evenings also, but they seem to be quite selective as to who they will bite. I came home with several very itchy reminders of their presence, while my husband had NONE!
The National Park on the island is great. Bring or rent snorkels there as well. And plan to spend several hours there! We didn’t allow ourselves enough time and missed out on seeing everything.
If you are budget-conscious, you can do a tour of the mainland on your own and save quite a few dollars. We took a taxi from the hotel to the Ferry ($5.00 for 2), the Ferry to Playa del Carmen ($16.00 for 2), then the city bus to Tulum (only costs $6.00 for 2 of us and it is very comfortable. Big coach seats, air-conditioned and they play movies the whole way. If you want to take the bus to Cancun, it costs $5.10 each. The Ferry leaves every hour on the hour. The bus station is within easy walking distance of the Ferry.
While we were at El Cozumeleno, there were doing quite a bit of maintenance work. During our stay they closed the smaller pool to repaint it, and also closed the whirlpool near the larger pool. I heard quite a few people grumbling about this, but there was still the larger pool which was absolutely beautiful. They have to do maintenance at some point and while it sucks that it was during our stay, it wasn’t too inconvenient. It’s nice to see that they are constantly upgrading things!
One thing – watch out for the timeshare people! They are everywhere! Right from when you land in the airport! They’re also at the hotel, and at the ferry dock. You can actually get some free things from them, but it wasn’t something that we wanted to do.
Overall, I’d say we had a great time. If you’re looking for things that are wrong, you’ll find them, but why look? And try to notice all the little things that they have done to make your stay more pleasant! Just sit back, relax, and have another drink! This isn’t a 5 star resort, and you haven’t paid 5 star prices! So chill out!
Oh, and if you’re a Canadian who likes Canadian whiskey? Bring your own! You won’t find any at the hotel! Same with ginger ale.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
gabbydana
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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