Wow! What can I say that others have not? We stayed at the El Coz July 5-July 12 and had the most amazing time. The food at the buffet restaurant wasn't that bad as people might have suggested in previous reviews. There was definately always something great to eat. Breakfast was probally the best meal of the day. Always a wide range of drinks, fantastic omelets and various other great eats. The service either in the snack bar,buffet,by the pool or on the beach was awesome. There was always someone to pick up the trash or empty cups or to offer to get you anything. There is a waitress Noemi (big smile) who was always around to chat with you or to get you whatever you needed. In the buffet a waiter Alejandro who was superb as well. We never ate at the restaurant where reservations where needed. Why should we have? The service and food at the buffet were just fine. The room was awesome. Don't believe your travel agent when they tell you the El Coz doesn't have roll away beds, they do. We got 2 of them. The housekeeping service was great. Always new towels, mopped floor etc. The entertainment on sight was fantastic as well. Kenia who is part of the entertainment staff really goes out of her way to make sure that all the kids feel special and have a great time. She also runs the aerobic classes as well. It seems she is there 24-7 to take care of all the entertainment needs. As for water sports, Ocean Adventures and Scuba Du know how to take care of your needs with style. If you scuba, they will take you to all the awsome reefs around the island. There staff is 100% professional and are great people to deal with. From all the divemasters,boat help,Shannon from Studio Nox that not only is great to talk to while hanging on the boat but also does a fantastic job taking photos of the diver while under water. The $75 fee that you are charged for a cd of your pictures is definately worth it. The general manager of Scuba Du, Antonio worked with me every step of the way. He answered all of our questions with alot of patience and professionalism. He was awsome.
2 years ago we stayed across the water at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya, look it up, compare the costs of the El Coz to that. Also last year we stayed at a dump in Curacao, Breezes that is a total waste of time and money, a truely horrible resort from A to Z. The El Coz ran circles around them in all aspects. It amazes me how proud and hardworking the Mexican people on the Yucatan are.
They are truely a pleasure to work with. Other than the resort, we spent about 6 hours out and about. Punta Sur, Coconuts and driving around the Island. It's all good, food,drink,scenery and all the rest. If you have any questions, feel free to email me brookeschriedel@sbcglobal.net And no, I was not paid to write this review...

The Elcozumeleno resort is hard to beat. I have stayed there several times and I am going again in March of 09. There was everything you would want without leaving the resort. Everyone was friendly, and made sure our stay was enjoyable. It's the best week of fun a person can have. I wish a could stay a month. This year I have convinced a few of my co workers to go with. I know we will have a great time. I would recomend this resort as a first choice if you are planning on going to Coz.
Roger/ Moorhead,MN

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!