Besides beautiful scenery, wonderful people, and perhaps the worlds best diving, Cozumel is blessed with the broadest selection of accommodations to be found at any resort. There really are nice and clean places that you can get for $25 per night (but don't expect many amenities or air conditioning) and the spectrum rises to ocean front suites at the Presidente at $1000 per night. Now, there are many on this forum that have their own favorites, as well as reasons for selecting them.
I will try to give you my impressions in general (and Dave's Rules) and then make some specific suggestions.
First, I think accommodations should be reasonably close to the town square. It is such a lovely place to cruise and close to almost all of the good restaurants. There are plenty of taxis but after a few days you will find your trips to town inhibited by the taxi fares which can be as much as $15 each way from the Diamond Resort. Following Dave's geographic rule you would then eliminate the hotels on the far north and south.
There are far too many good restaurants, and the food is too cheap, to book an all inclusive hotel package. Indeed, exploring the islands food parlors may be just as good a reason to visit Cozumel as is the diving! Oddly enough the far north and far south hotels are all inclusive which is a double whammy under Dave's Rules.
There is no place on the island that you cannot venture safely at any hour of the night or day. Occasionally a t shirt is taken from a open car, or even some "small potatoes" house break ins, but for the most part the local culture frowns on anyone that messes with tourists. Safety is not a factor in selecting a hotel.
Some remarkable bargains can be found when renting houses or apartments (called villas in Cozumel to make them sound more exotic). I believe that Ron & Sherry White, who are active on this forum rent out such places. I don't have their CIS address but if you post a question to all I am sure that you would get a response.
The upside of a villa is that you will have a kitchen and other home like amenities, but there are some downsides: a) Almost all villas are away from town or any sort of action. Even though they may be closer than some of the hotels, there always seems to be some difficulty in finding taxis and many people just end up renting cars, which negates some of the economic benefit. b) none of the villas have docks on which to board your dive boat. That means walks or taxis twice a day. c) None of the villas have the amenities that many vacationers come to Cozumel for. Room service, private beaches, phones, bars, etc, just will not be found in Villas.
But don't get me wrong, there are many people that really enjoy staying in Villas. It is just a matter of personal taste. In addition to Ron & Sherry White there are at least a dozen other operations that rent them as well. If you want I could dig up numbers for you, but I am not a travel agent and do not take bookings.
Oh, by the way, there are also a few Bed & Breakfasts on the island and just last week a posting was made about El Tamerind (I think). It sounded excellent but I have no personal knowledge. Joel Markwell made the posting.
For Hotels, price ranges can be grouped into three categories for the sake of evaluation.
These are generally around the town square but often get 5-10 blocks inland or even down the coast a little. Most in the $30 range don't have Air Conditioning which can be overlooked in January but certainly not in July. At a little more cost of $45-55 you will find A/C but not other hotel amenities. I have heard good reports about the Flamingo Hotel, Colonial, and Meson, but do not have any special recommendations in this category. I have had more than a few customers complain about the Barracuda Hotel which is the only low end hotel to have a pier.
I have received the following advice from Darrell Kelly Darell Kelly, Houston:
Have a great vacation in cozumel and Howdy ya'll from Texas!!As a regular visiter to cozumel I can only give a little advise to these well written articles. #1 Cozumel can be very cheap. I stay at the cheaper hotels on the plaza and they average $36 per night. plus the plaza is where all the action is. #2 if you stay on the plaza you can walk with your dive gear to the docks where your boat will pick you up. #3 the best and greatest variety of restaurants are on the plaza. check out the Bahia. ask for an end room. #29 is wonderful. you will overlook the main street and all of the docks. watch a parade from your balcony and just people watch in air conditioned comfort.
BTW there are special excursion fares from Dallas or Houston Texas to cozumel through adventure tours for approximatly $300 for 4 days 3 nights. this includes hotel and airfare. 1 week is usually approximatly $500. you stay at the colonial suites or the Bahia. Bahia is rated 3 stars and is right on the waterfront street about two blocks from the plaza.Colonial Suites is 1/2 block from the plaza. Both have television, kitchens, air conditioning and balconys.Though not luxery they are above the standards of an american motel 6 or other standard discount American motel.
Have a great vacation in cozumel and Howdy ya'll from Texas!!
I am not a travel agent and this is shared simply so you can understand why we go to Cozumel so often (three or four times per year).I also have information focusing on dives for advanced, nitrox certified, or cave/cavern divers (like myself).
These include La Ceiba, Plaza Las Glorias, Fiesta Inn, Fiesta Americana, and a few others. All have pools, phones, room service, satellite TV, boat dock, and decent service. There are of course differences in room size, beach access, and attitude of the staff but for the most part they provide the same level of experience.
La Ceiba is right next to the Cruise Ship Pier and if you have an ocean front room you will be looking at magnificently lighted ships all night. Plaza Las Glorias spends your whole vacation trying to sell you Time Shares, but do have big rooms.
The Fiesta Americana has nice looking ads but they don't reveal that the island's main road runs right through the hotel, and Dave's Rule of geography are ruled out anyway.
The Fiesta Inn is near downtown, has the largest and nicest pool area on the island and does a really good job of taking care of their guests. They also end to be less expensive than the other mid range hotels, and frequently can be booked for just a little more than the low end hotels.
The Fiesta Inn
This is what Liz Hanks writes about Fiesta Inn in her report:
We stayed at the Fiesta Inn, a hotel about a mile south of the town of San Miguel. Aldora made the arrangements. The room has quite comfortable with 2 double beds, a nice balcony (without furniture, unfortunately) overlooking the swimming pool, and a bathroom with separate shower and lavatory areas. There was always great water pressure in the shower, and except for in the early morning, there was plenty of hot water. There was a nice closet in the lavatory area, good for hanging damp items. The water drained onto the tile floor and under the lavatory. The air-conditioning always worked well, so the room was always comfortable.
The hotel also boasts the largest pool on the island, about 4 feet deep, and very pleasant. There is a large patio around the pool, dotted with palm trees for those who have already had plenty of sun. The pool has a large central area that is usable as a lap pool (if diving is not enough exercise), an area set up for pool volleyball, and a large portion that is only a few inches deep to lay down in and stay cool in while getting some sun. Drinks can be ordered from the server that wanders around from time to time in the pool area. There is a also a tennis court, which appeared to have an artificial grass/carpet surface in relatively good shape, but we didn't try it out. The only thing missing is a nice hot tub.
Across the main street is a small man-made beach, a dive shop (Marine Sports) and a dock that is accessible via an underpass from the hotel. The underpass came in handy a few times when cruise ships had recently arrived, and passengers were being shuttled into town by buses and taxis in a mad frenzy. The dock is accessible to all dive operators, and is where the Aldora boats met us each day.
The hotel restaurant had a nice selection at all meals, but we found it a bit pricey. We ate breakfast there the first day, but ventured elsewhere after that. The bar was nice, and claimed to have Karaoke on several occasions, but we never tried it out. We did visit it for happy hour once, the 2-for-1 margaritas were similar to those elsewhere, although a bit more expensive and diluted.
For her full report from Cozumel, click on trip report
Hotel Intercontinental El Presidente
Far in the north the Melia Mayan falls into this category but due to its geography and all inclusive nature falls out of our consideration. That leaves the El Presidente which is, IMHO, the best hotel on the island, maybe any island. Included is nothing short of 5 star service at every level, the nicest sandy bottom lagoon, the best snorkeling on the island, and Dave runs out of superlatives when trying to describe it. But it can be pricey, and even when you can get in at a good room rate you will pay a lot more for beers, toothpaste, etc. But its pricing is no worse than other true luxury hotels.
For more hotel info, please visit IslaCozumel.Net
For the latest weather forecast for Cozumel, try USATODAY.
Diving Cozumel with Aldora Divers
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