The hotel is clean but there are NO room amenities. No robe, coffee maker, mini bar, mini fridge, nothing, so be aware. The 1st night one of the members of our party seriously cut his foot on broken tile in the pool. Before we arrived this was mentioned in another review but we assumed such things were fixed with regular maintenance. WRONG! By the end of our week several other guest had the same injury. The food was acceptable and even pretty good on the buffets. The Restaurant was another matter. It was advertised as an Italian delight, deluxe menu, upscale atmosphere, blah, blah, blah. It was actually a disaster! The meal was rushed, practically thrown at us. The dishes were obviously pre-made then microwaved before serving. One chicken dish was raw, another steak was cold to the touch. The last little surprise we all brought home from the El Cozumeleno.... sand mites. We were all eaten alive! This infestation is controlable with pesticieds. We will not be returning to this resort!!!!!

First off, thanks to all the other reviews and traveler photos, as it helped us make our decision. Now we would like to help others as well. We're sorry for the long review but we wanted to share our positive and memorable experience with all.

Hotel:
The service staff at this hotel made our stay amazing...we stayed for 2 weeks from June 28th to July 12th, 2008. The El Cozumeleno exceeded all of our expectations due to the fact that the hotel prides itself on quality, cleanliness and service. The grounds are well kept. The bartenders (in resturants, at beach and lobby bar) were always attentive ensuring you were happy and enjoying yourself. The waiters in the buffet were friendly and attentive to everyones needs. The waiters in La Veranda resturant were what we like to call the Dream Team of waiters as they complimented each other. Where one waiter left off the other waiter would pick up without a glitch. The whole resturant ran smoothly and efficiently because they all worked very well together. The Manager, Benjamin, hostess, Helen and waiters, Edgar, Fernando, Ricardo 1, Ricardo 2, Santiago and Jose really made our stay here an amazing experience because of their welcoming and friendly nature.
Room service is available for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a snack until 11pm with a set menu.
The hotel room was always clean with a fresh smell...there were no musty smells like rooms we've stayed in, the Dominician/Cuba/Mayan. There were lots of TV channels but how much time do you spend in the room.
The hotel restrooms were alway clean, tidy and fresh smelling.

La Veranda Restruant:
This is the a la carte restruant and we have nothing but excellent things to say about it. This is where we ate every night except for the first night we arrived and when we went to town for dinner. We never ate at the buffet after that...why eat "ok" food when you can eat excellent food every night and be treated like family. The manager, Benjamin was excellent...he was very personable, friendly, accommodating and courteous always making us feel welcomed and like family. As mentioned before, the waiters in this restraunt were fantastic always making us feel welcomed and like a part of their family while maintaining their professionalism. They were always friendly, courteous and accommodating. If you like garlic you will love the appitizer they serve first (a puffed up pita bread with a butter garlic sauce poured on top) and the rest of the menu is delicious. The pasta dishes, pizza, steak, fish and seafood and all delicious. The desserts being served were also excellent. We really have no idea why people would be complaining about the food here as this restruant is excellent...but we have heard the buffet dinner is just OK. The buffet breakfast and lunch is very good with lots of choices and if you don't like what's at the buffet then you can order off of a set lunch menu and the food on it is very good. The beer is always cold, the coldest that we've had at any all inclusive. The liquior is high quality, Crown Royal being served along with some other primium brands, unlike any other all inclusive we've been at.


Beach:
There is a waiter on the beach serving you at all times.
The beach is absolutely beautiful. There were plenty of beach chairs and pool chairs, we never had a problem getting one. Beach huts are not as plentiful but we were always up early enough to get a hut. When going into the water enter by the steps closer to the longer pier, as this area is sandy with a few large rocks. As for water shoes...totally up to the individual but we didn't bring any or need any as the sandy area is perfectly fine for entering and exiting the water. Once your in the water it is very sandy with some large rocks about but the water is so clear that you can easily avoid the rocks. Do go snorkeling in front of the hotel, there are many colourful fish right there. We took some amazing pictures right off of the pier/all along the pier in the water while snorkeling. The fish will swim all around you while you are in the water and they will follow you as you swim...this was amazing! You can ask the waiters to get you some bread for the fish...my boyfriend fed the fish from the pier while I was in the water (water camera in hand) and we have some excellent pictures. For of you who like to collect shells...there are plenty. If you go for a walk to the right of the hotel (5-10 min) you will easily find large Shells on the beach and in the water. If you go for a walk to the left of the hotel there are plenty of smaller shells. If you walk to the left be sure to bring your shoes with you as the shells are all over the sand and make it difficult to walk in bare feet. We were so happy that we picked the El Cozumeleno instead of the melia which is right next door to the right due to the fact that the water on our side of the long pier was the most beautiful clear shades of blue while the water on the right side of the pier, in front of the Melia, was dark, merky and full of soot. We felt sorry for those people staying at the melia as they would venture over to our beach every day to enjoy the beautiful beach/water we had.

Pools:
The pools are very nice, 1 very large, 1 medium and 1 very small. They are clean and the smaller pool is for young children with a mushroom waterfall. There is a waiter always serving around the pool. There is not a lot of shade coverge but you can always go under the building where the waterfall is in the large pool if you need shade as there are always chairs available there. There is also a swim up bar in the large pool. There are 2 hot tubs & the water is very warm in them. There are always chairs available around the pool.

Town:
The town was a $5.00 cab ride each way. There is lots of shopping and restruants but they tend to busier during day when the cruise ships are in and a lot quiter during the night. For dancing and dinning there were clubs such as Senior Frog's, Carlo's & Charlie's, Tiki Tok and Neptune's. All of these places were fairly quit when we were there but it is their down season right now. For better shopping walk further into the markets (away from the water). Restruants: Try Prima (italitan), La Choza (mexican), Casa Mission (mexican). We ate at La Mission (next to Viva Mexico store-Prima/La Choza are on this street as well) and the food was very good and reasonable. We had the Surf & Turf (came with nacho/quacamole, garlic bread, soup and dessert) along with 2 beers for $40.00 us.
Do rent a jeep and take a drive around the island as this is and unforgetable experience. We rented the jeep right from the guy in the hotel for $66.00us for 24 hours. You can get insurance but we did not as it jacks the price up to $99.00. Make sure you stop at Palancar beach, there is a long driveway to get to the beach but it is breathtaking. Food and cold drinks are there to purchase and tons of larget shells to collect. Also stop at Punta Sur...$10.00 per person to get into the park but lots to see, stop at Bob Marley's bar which is right there before you enter Punta Sur, stop at Chen Rio Beach for a drink...beautiful beach as well and food and drinks to purchase if you like. The last and best place to stop is at Coconuts bar, it is at the highest pioint of the island and overlooks the ocean...the most beautiful sight you'll see! You can eat and drink there as well, we had nachos and 2 beers for $15.00us. It's not cheap but it is a great experience.

Scuba Diving:
Yes, definately do it, even if your not a certified diver. They have guided dives for those of us that are not certified and you won't regret it. Make sure you go through the hotel as their staff there is amazing. We went for a beach dive with Javier Francisco, who is a divemaster, and he was excellent. We loved it so much that we went on a boat dive for non-certified divers and we loved that so much that we actually took the certification course while we were there. We never felt overwhelmed or unsafe as Javier Francisco walked us through step by step and he was always safety concious, checking that we were ok, keeping an eye on our air supply and pointing out interesting creatures for us to look at (eels, stingrays, fish).

Entertainment:
There are shows each night on the 2nd floor of the hotel that begin at 8pm and there is also a Karoke Bar on the 2nd floor. We are non-smokers and found the Karoke Bar very smoky as a lot of people smoke and the bar is not that big. We tended to hang out at the lobby bar which closed at 12midnight as there was no one smoking in the lobby or in La Veranda Resturant.

The hotel supplies finger foods in the late evening (11pm to 1am) in the lobby (pizza, nachos with cheese, finger sandwiches) and drinks (water & juice).

This hotel catered to all, families, couples, singles and large groups...there is something for everyone and lots of activities for the children or as much or as little as you want to do. As the locals say "it;s paradise" and they are absolutely right. We found that there were a lot of people that have been returning to this hotel year after year...now we know why!

First time in Mexico after years of going to Cuba...Although the service was much better in Cozumel, I missed the warmth of the Cuban people. Mexican don't seem to smile much.

The ride downtown is only 5-6$ by cab, if you want to go and buy souvenirs. Salespeople can be annoying trying to get you into their store, but they're just trying to ern a bit of money. There is cheap silver and tequila!

The Good

The hotel is very clean, exception maybe for the bottom of the pools (keep your eyes closed!). The food temperature is often checked at the buffet, so no worry there, and there is always something good to eat. The Verdana (italian restaurant) is a very good restaurant, and it's amazing that we are allowed to go every night if we wanted to. There is a dress code for kids too, so bring pants for them.

You can snorkel right off the beach, there is a ton of fish, many varieties, and very colorful.

The service is quick, whether you tip or not, and there are waiters to serve you around the pool and at the beach.

The Bad
The wine is aweful everywhere on the resort, and most often served in plastic glasses, which makes worse.

In several years of traveling down south, we never had anything stolen, but this time someone took one of our beach towels while we were in the pool. Beware of the shaded area at the pool, it is remote and often deserted, so it's easy for people to steal whatever you leave there.

The thing that really bothered me was the lack of shade at the pool and at the beach. Not a single sunshade around the pools and 11 at the beach, for the whole hotel. They were all taken very early, for the whole day.

The beach isn't nice for swimming. There is a lot of rocks, even part of the beach is rocks covered with sand, and it's a very small beach.

TOURS

If you take the catamaran snorkeling tour with Fury, they take you to an awesome beach for lunch. You won't see more than what you see at the hotel, but it's fun and the staff is very nice. Stand at the front of the boat on your way back, and you might see some flying fish!

If you book with Air Canada vacation, beware of their rep (Pierre). He is trying hard to sell you his packages, to the point that it's not even funny. For example, he told us that for the Jeep Tour, it was ok to drive a Jeep even if we didn't have our drivers' license with us; once there, the guide told us if we did drive without it and got arrested, the car would be seized and the driver put in jail until the fine is paid! Also, the snorkeling on that tour is for good swimmers and definitely not for kids. We had to leave my 9 y.o. on the beach. You have to swim very far out to the reef, in strong currents and waves. We were exhausted!

I asked Pierre about stuff that we wanted to do on our own (going to the mainland, to other beaches on the island) and I think he was purposely being unhelpful (saying it was expensive, or there was nothing to see there) because he wanted us to buy his daytrips.

Overall, it was well worth the price we paid, but I would not go back because of the beach and the lack of shade.

My wife and I spent four days June 30-July 4, 2008 at El Coz with our two grandsons age 14 and 12 and were very, very pleased with El Coz.
We had one of the large rooms on the ground floor on the N. end of the hotel. Great view but every room seems to have a great view.
Our room and the entire resort was spotless and very well staffed. Food at the open air restaurant and the a-la-carte was varied and very good. We also had hamburgers and hot dogs on occassion at the snack bar. Also very good.
Our bracelets were color coded, adults and children, and while the boys could get a drink at any of the bars only the virgin version of pina coladas, etc. were served to them. They roamed throughout the resort and did several activities individually. We were convinced that they were safe at all times. We did supervise and participate in their kayaking and snorkeling, however, Snorkeling was very good particularly with the bags of day old bread the staff furnished on request. We took our own snorkeling equipment so we would not be limited in time with the free equipment. Water shoes are not necessary for swimmng in the ocean if you enter the water at the north end where there is a sandy and gentle sloped entry place.
The free internet pcs, and frree wi-fi, in the lobby was very useful even with the 15 min. limit if others were waiting.

My wife and I stayed at the excellent Occidental Cozumel last year but now much prefer El Coz because of much better snorkeling and more activities. The entertainment, particulary the Mexican fiesta on Wednesday ;night was outstanding. About twenty professional mariachis and dancers entertained during an elaborate buffet-sit down dinner.

We highly recommend the El Coz and are are sorry that we had not discovered it years ago.