I am 27 and my bf is 29, we chose the Cozumel palace as we have recently gotten into diving and were told Cozumel was the place to go. Came on Tripadvisor and saw that the Palace was the highest rated all inclusive (now it has changed and the Presidente has passed it) so we chose it. We paid about $1600 CDN each for 7 days. I'll start by saying that I was not AS impressed as most of the other reviewers have been. Yes, the service was good and so was the food but neither were excellent or out of this world. Upon arriving in the hotel, which only took 10 minutes from the airport which was a highlight, we were greeted warmly and given a cool towel. The receptionist told us to take a seat in the lobby and that someone would be by to check us in as we relaxed after our flight. Right away we were offered some fruit drinks and a waiter came by to offer us whatever else we needed. A good start. I found out we got the room we had requested (#527 which I had gotten the tip from a previous visitor who has posted in tripadvisor) which made me veryyyy happy as I knew we had the biggest balcony with the best view of the whole resort. The room was gorgeous although the pictures do make it look bigger than it is, although it was definitely big enough either way. The jacuzzi was large and great, we used it after almost every dive. the bed was big and comfortable and it sucked to get out of it every morning at 630 to be on time for our dives haha but it was by choice and the dives were also amazing. We did not try the Mexican or Italian restaurants for supper as other guests had told us not to bother and stuck to the asian and outdoor bbq which were fantastic. The breakfast buffet was no different from any other youve tried. Fruit, made to order omelletts and a variety of other hot and cold dished that were a bit bland i found. Lovely dessert tray but didnt even try it, dont know why maybe cuz they looked too pretty haha. The maid service was just ok, the room was cleaned daily but nothing special, no towel art or chocolates on the pillow... maybe they expected bigger tips. The bathrooms were beautiful at first glance but upon inspection quite run down with the grout changing colors etc, could use some touchups. Really it is a great hotel that just needs to pay a bit more attention to detail. what not to miss: THE FIRE SHOW, be sure to see it, it was awesome. Besides that nothing out of this world with the entertainment, the dancers were not great but they tried to get you into it which is what its all about I guess. The snorkelling area was fun, not A lot to see, especially since we are divers and expect to see more than a few small fish. But definitely do some diving in cozumel, we were amazed by the beautful reefs and the amount of sealife we saw, the best one was the night dive, scary?? yes... most amazing thing ive ever done?? YES!! We only arrived last week from Cozumel and the diving sticks out way mor ein my mind than the hotel does. It was a nice place but was lacking a little something. Would I stay there again, probably as it was very well located being only 10 minutes walking from the downtown area and the pier is well situated for getting picked up by your dive operator. Will I be looking forward to the food and entertainment, not as much. But teh jacuzzi and bedroom were really amazing, hammock and views also off the charts! If you go i am sure youll enjoy it, just know that there are a few details youll notice and think, why dont they just fix these things and it would be perfect! Higher standard of food and room maintenance could be suggested but all in all a lovely place.

WARNING BEACH LOVERS: THERE IS NO BEACH HERE AND NO EASY OCEAN ACCESS!

We have mixed feelings about this hotel . . . and Cozumel in general.

The hotel was very nice, and the service was exceptional. The food situation was not so good.

It's an "all inclusive," and so you will experience the usual tricks used to "slow you down." Small glasses, sandwiches with very little meat, etc. The food situtaion here is not good. The steaks are the thickness of cold-cuts. The restaurants serve portions that are ridiculously small. Just order triple of what you want to get a meal.

The service was excellent, but the answer to everything is alcohol. . . because that's all there is to do here. (You can drink on your back deck at home, play mexican music, and save hundreds . . . )

They did a great job on their website of hiding the biggest flaw of the hotel . . . there is NO BEACH HERE AND NO EASY OCEAN ACCESS FOR SWIMMING. Be warned!

Another irritating thing with this hotel is that they pitch you to buy a condo right there in the lobby with one of their "hotel assistants."


MUST DO:

1. Rent a car so you can go to a GOOD restaurant on the beach, such as Albertos' on the south end;

2. If you're stuck here or can't cancel your trip and LOVE THE BEACH, then drive south from the hotel to "Mr. Sancho's," which is a day beach setup with easy access to THE BEACH (a novel idea for a so-called resort island, huh?);

3. Drive to "Mayaluun," which is next to "The Tequila Factory." The man there makes his own handcrafted artwork, and it's unique Mayan stuff;

4. Dine at the Oriental Restaurant in the hotel . . . ironically the best in the place (weird . . . a great oriental restaurant in Mexico?!?!?);

5. Snorkel right off of the hotel plaza - - - if it's "open" that day.


AVOID:

1. Cozumel altogether - unless you are a scuba diver (the island is small, rocky, and "REAL PRETTY," but there is *nothing to do here* but drink, fend off rude and pushy merchants, and tolerate an army of condo sales reps);

2. The "Meet A Dolphin" scam (it's oversold and a ripoff);

3. The "Italian" restaurant at the hotel . . . unless you're trying to lose weight!

This hotel (and Cozumel) is highly overrated . . . period. It's just a "cruise ship stop" and you can see the whole place in 4 hours.

Just returned from a fabulous 6-night stay at the Cozumel Palace Hotel. Everything about the hotel was great, from the food at all of the restaurants, the service of the entire staff, the room (view, comfort, cleanliness, etc.), and the facility in general. I loved how the various staff members (particularly Selena, Dehne, and Soghei) all remembered your name and greeted you in person every time they saw you around the hotel. I loved the personal touch. While staying in Cozumel we did various activities which I would recommend, including renting a jeep at the hotel (through Avis - approx. $100 with insurance), catamaran snorkeling trip through Manta tours (booked through my Apple rep.), free day trip to Cantannanab (spelling ??), scuba diving at the in-house dive shop, and of course shopping in town (very short walk). We felt very safe on the island and both the hotel staff and local people couldn't have been more friendly. I would definitely recommend a visit to Cozumel Palace and/or Cozumel for a wonderful vacation.

My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Cozumel Palace. We stayed for ten days from June 15th-25th. We decided to stay at Cozumel Palace based on many positive reviews that we had read on Trip Advisor. Our entire stay was wonderful! The entire resort looks just like the pictures! Our room was on the fifth floor and we had a great view of the resort and the ocean. I would definitely request a high floor when you make your reservation. The amenities in the room were wonderful. The Jacuzzi tub was enormous and the room also had a full mini-bar which was replenished everyday.

The best thing about the Cozumel Palace is the staff and the hospitality that you receive. In fact we learned that the Yucatan Peninsula is known for its hospitality services and other countries send their hospitality employees here to be trained.

Upon arriving, the bellman who escorted us to our room noticed that the air conditioning was rattling and told us it was unacceptable. He made a call to the maintenance department and in a matter of minutes a gentleman was there to fix the problem. All of the staff was very attentive and it amazed me how they remember your name after one or two days. My husband and I brought a $100 in ones for tipping and noticed that the impeccable service stayed the same but we were seated faster or in better locations at the restaurants throughout our stay. In fact the waiter that we had during the breakfast and lunch buffet (Osvaldo) would recognize us, seat us, and bring us our favorite mimosas. All of the restaurants were wonderful. We used the room service on days that we had excursions planned and were amazed with their timeliness.

We went on all of the included excursions that were provided by the hotel and we loved all of them. We were amazed at how professional and informative the tour guides were. Tulum was beautiful and we especially appreciated that the Palace resorts make an effort to work with the Mayan people and take tourists to their cooperatives. We also enjoyed visiting Xpu-Ha Palace and enjoyed the tour of the ecological park that Gabriel gave to us. Coba was also amazing and my husband enjoyed climbing up the Grand Pyramid. Be sure to where bug spray. (We purchased biodegradable bug spray and sunscreen from mexitan.com before going on our trip.) We also enjoyed the lunch that was provided at the Mayan Cooperative.

The glass bottom boat tour was fun and the best part of it is that you get to go snorkeling with a guide for an hour. This was our first time ever snorkeling and we had a great time.

Chankanaab National Park is very pretty. We enjoyed the snorkeling although we felt the snorkeling was better at the Cozumel Palace. We loved swimming with the dolphins. We would highly recommend the royal swim. The most interesting part about Chankanaab are the replicas that they have from many different ruins that belonged to the Mayans, the Toltecs, and the Aztecs. We received a tour of the artifacts from one of the park guides. It was free but we tipped him for his service.

The activities and the activity staff were fun and we were impressed with the nightly entertainment. All of the shows were great. If you go, don’t miss the Fire and drums show it was amazing!