We stayed at the Presidente InterContinental Cozumel for several days in HOT HOT July. Actually, going during the hot months is worth it. The city and beaches are way less crowded. Unless you have a suite, the rooms are pretty rustic. We even found a lizard in our room! The staff and service were way above average. They were polite and helpful. The food was good, but expensive for what it is.

Don't expect to have long sandy beaches for walking. The beach chairs cover the sand and then it's the ocean. The area is nice for mild snorkeling. Watch out for the sand fleas! I had bites on my legs (which itch like crazy) for weeks afterwards.

My wife and I stayed at the Presidente for 4 nights in early September. The resort was very well maintained and the service was far above anything else I have experienced in Mexico.
We booked our hotel through whatahotel.com and received many upgrades and a free snorkel tour around the island. The food at the hotel was excellent and not over priced as others have said. ($16-$28 for a dinner entree) in all the resturants. I will go back there again on my next Mexico vacation and whatahotel.com also will get my business again...

This hotel is extraordinary - beautiful grounds, rooms and excellent food, all at very good off-season rates. Nice snorkeling reef off the beach, although long time, repeat guests tell us that the reef has deteriorated over the years.the hotel was way under-occupied when we were there so maybe we were spoiled - but nothing we saw on our cab rides into Cozumel could begin to compare. We even priced a return over Christmas, but rates quoted were 2.5x what we paid, so we'll look elsewhere

We just returned from a lovely vacation in Cozumel. We selected the Presidente Intercontinental after a lot of research (including a lot of information from TripAdvisor.com!) and were very pleased with our choice. All staff members were so friendly and gracious. We really felt pampered all week, from the fruity drinks and spearmint-scented cold towels upon arrival, to the special touches and surprises during dinner, to the careful housekeeping who left imaginative towel-and-flower creations each day...if you want to be spoiled, pick the Presidente!

We took to trip to celebrate a birthday and an anniversary. I was touched when we were surprised with a delicious chocolate cake for two, with the number of years we have been married written in icing. We had made a brief comment when we were checking in - and they remembered two days later!

The food at the open-air restaurant was very good in quality, quantity and variety - I was pleasantly surprised! Although the concept of having to ask for the check is foreign to me, it was lovely to linger as long as we wanted without feeling rushed.

We arranged a private dinner on the beach one night and it left nothing to be desired. I wish I could remember the names of all of the excellent waitstaff we met - they truly take delight in exquisite service!

Be sure to try out Alfredo's - if you order the signature fettuccine alfredo, you're in for a treat! It was very good and prepared tableside, then presented with gold utensils.

I found the location of the hotel to be very convenient - it was a short taxi ride from the airport, and a trip to town took no time at all! Taxi rides were quick and cheap.

I'm fairly picky when it comes to room appearance and cleanliness, food quality, and level of service...and the Presidente surpassed my expectations. Sure, it's not an all-inclusive. That's a good thing in this case. At the airport for the flight home, we sat next to two families who were comparing notes about their resorts. They had both stayed at AIs, and were disappointed in the room size/quality and in the food - one of them said she had lived solely on chocolate ice cream for the week!

Will you pay more for the Presidente? Sure. But even with a private beach dinner, plenty of food charged to the room, and a couples massage, we were surprised at checkout - we had prepared ourselves to see a figure at least $500-1000 more. I feel that every dollar (peso) was well-spent. Since I booked through the hotel directly, I was prepared for the room tax/fees; there were no fees or charges that I was not expecting.

We went snorkeling two days, right off the hotel beach. We saw lots of fish and even a small octopus - just yards off the beach! We didn't take any boat tours, but I saw several people get picked up each morning, so it seemed to be a convenient location for that. While we were not the only guests there, we never felt crowded. On many occasions we had a stretch of beach or the pool all to ourselves. Just stick the flag in the sand and a waiter will be right out. The towels were well-stocked and very large - a simple thing that made a big difference!

Counting the days until our next trip...