This was our second trip to the Iberostar Cozumel, and we’re torn as to whether or not it will be our last.

First, the good. Out of all the all-inclusive places we’ve stayed, this one feels the most ‘homey’ to us – when we’ve spent a day roaming the island, it always feels good to get back. The grounds are beautiful and meticulously kept, with friendly and interesting wildlife roaming throughout the resort. You’re always assured of a friendly greeting by the staff –it feels more like a ‘welcome home’ than any other place we have stayed. The rooms are bungalows scattered throughout the property (four rooms to a bungalow) so there’s no hotel-y feel to the place at all. The pool’s a little noisy midday (though the kids will love it!) and there’s more than enough tranquility to be found relaxing by the beach or at other times around the pool. The staff is friendly and helpful, and they were more than willing to engage us in pleasant conversation, being most forgiving of our halting Spanish. We like to single out people who really did their jobs well, and two such wonderful people were Carolina and Alfredo (wait staff), who made us feel like family, not guests, and with whom we enjoyed great conversation, both in Spanish and English, throughout our stay. We like to rent a car for the week while in Cozumel, and the Iberostar has plenty of free parking – we never had a problem finding a space. One evening, we left the lights on in our car, and (we STILL haven’t figured how they knew it was our car) we got a call to our room informing us of such. Needless to say, this saved us a huge hassle overcoming a dead battery the next morning!

Unfortunately, there’s the bad - which, having had a pretty good experience during our 2008 stay, was kind of glaring this time around. Most of the negatives you read in other reviews, such as the hard beds (all the beds in Mexico are hard, and they’ll give you a pad if you ask), the lukewarm coffee for breakfast (easily remedied by ordering a double espresso, which we found to be weak espresso but passes admirably for what in America would be a strong hot cup of coffee) and brushing your teeth with bottled water (plentiful here) are just what you deal with if you’re going to travel in Mexico. But there were some definite contrasts between our 2008 and 2012 stays at Iberostar Cozumel.

When we entered our room, we noticed quite the problem with the latch on our door, which needed a pretty firm slam to make it latch. (More on that later.) Most noticeable, though, was the sewer/mildew smell that permeated the room. We think it was a system problem, because there were workers bustling around the bungalow the next day, and by day three it’d pretty much subsided (only to return on the day we left).

The internet was free during our 2008 stay. It seems that the 'powers that be' at Iberostar wanted a new profit center, so now you pay for it – not a problem for most, but we do a little work while on vacation, so it was an annoyance more than anything, and you’re paying for a pretty tenuous connection to boot. (No, no refunds if your email didn’t download.) Keep in mind that if you’re like us, and bring your laptop, the safes in the room aren’t big enough to accommodate them – which, we found to our sorrow, they need to be.

Things will disappear, we found, if you don’t nail them down or lock them away in the safe. We lost a wedding ring (husbands) and a dive computer, both to ‘light fingers’. So, we got about a $600.00 lesson on the Mexican underground economy. Word to the wise – leave NOTHING out in your room that you don’t want to walk away – lock it up in the safe, or it WILL be stolen. This wasn’t a problem during our first stay – but it seems to be picking up now, and for whatever reason our number came up to be victims. Security took a report from us, but didn’t really offer anything other than their regrets.

So – in summary, the vacation was wonderful. We got some great diving in (see our review on Dive with Martin if you like) and had a relaxing vacation. Most of the ‘bad’ are really the ordinary petty annoyances you always encounter when traveling abroad. But we really wish we could shake the violated feeling we now have – being ripped off sort of put a damper on what otherwise would have been a wonderful experience. We hope, by reading our review, that your experience might be better than ours.

Resort immaculate, staff worked extremely hard to make our vacation special.grounds were most beautiful no complaints. Highly reccomend to adults not really for kids

w/o Jan.21-28,2012 – Cozumel, Mexico
Once again, a great vacation at a great place, our Third Iberostar property.
West Jet Flight was perfect, direct from Toronto to Cozumel. The descent into the airport on a sunny day was spectacular. The turquoise waters, the cruise ships in port, all a great sight to see.
Short 20 minute ride in a small minibus type vehicle to the Iberostar Hotel, one of the last hotels outside of San Miguel.
Checkin was easy as a minibus does not hold a lot of people. We arrived around 2:30 p.m. local time. Rooms were ready. We requested 2 rooms on the upper level, close together and reasonably close to the beach. Got everything we wanted. All worked very well. Rooms are comfortable, and clean. Bathrooms are more than adequate. Always had warm water and hair dryer is actually usable. That was a plus. Shower stall only, but did not bother us at all since we already knew this, and there is too much to do on a one week vacation to take leisurely baths anyway. There is a closet and some cupboard space in the bedroom. Safe is a little tricky to set up as the “button” they talk about to push and reset is actually on the “back” or the inside of the safe door. Remember this! Air conditioning in room worked well. Also a ceiling fan available. The beds, even though some say are hard, were just perfect for us. I don’t like to sink into a bed and I had a great night sleep every night. The open air lobby, buffets, etc. are awesome, I especially like that concept when I go to the islands. If I wanted constant air conditioning wherever I go, I’d stay home. Plenty of choices at all buffets. 3 Specialty restaurants. The Steak house, which in the day time is the continental breakfast buffet and lunch buffet. If you are going to have steak, pick the rib eye. It is the biggest, but most of all the most tender. I know you’d have a tendency to want to ask for the sirloin or better cuts, but trust me on this one. I asked the waiter what he recommended and he was right. The other that someone else ordered was fairly tough and nothing like the rib eye. The Mexican restaurant is the only air conditioned restaurant and the food is OK. Lots of taco dishes on the menu. I chose to go with a fish dish and it was excellent. Of course, there is also a salad/appetizer/dessert bar in both of those specialty restaurants. We did not do the third one, which was the Star Rock Cafe because it is only opened Mondays and Fridays. It actually takes place in the disco, which I think might be air conditioned as well. We didn’t frequent the disco so I can’t comment on it.
Instead we opted to go to Alberto’s, separate restaurant, next door, but outside of the Iberostar complex. It’s a 5 minute walk along the beach.
The Iberostar property itself is the ultimate in luscious, tropical vegetation. It is definitely like a little village, with awesome trails and walkways. Beautiful flowers everywhere. The best environment I have ever seen anywhere. Of course the iguanas, the peacocks, the flamingos, the birds, the cats etc. also add tremendously to the beautiful grounds. The staff everywhere is very friendly and accommodating. The bar tenders will serve you anything you want and they have plenty of everything, Imported or otherwise. The house vino tinto (red wine) is actually really good and served at room temperature the way it should be. There are plenty of excursions available at what seemed very fair pricing. We did a catamaran/snorkel/sunset cruise and it was wonderful. They come and get you at the hotel pier which is handy. The snorkeling at the pier is also great. Clear waters and plenty of fish. Rocky beach, but if you’ve read other reviews, you’ll already know this. Water shoes come in handy but if you go down the ladder at the end of the pier, you don’t even really need them. I was amazed when I heard some people did not know about the rocky beach and were disappointed. The sandy part is like any other. Plenty of chairs and palapas for every one. Lots of shade if that’s what you want. The pool area is good also. Plenty of activities there by the Animacion Team. The weather was hot and humid, also expected. Lots of cloud cover here and there with a few rain showers. Nothing that stopped us from doing anything we wanted to do. We also rented a jeep for the day , right from the hotel, and drove around the island on it’s only road. The back of the island’s beaches are awesome, deserted, but ever so beautiful. You can stop anywhere along the side of the road along the way and walk down to the beach. The surf is a bit strong and you swim at your own risk. Lots of waves. If you want to stop for a drink or lunch along the way, I recommend you stop at Punta Moreno, just before the road turns inland. It’s a great place right on the water. They even have a pool on the grounds etc. with a little entertaining trio that plays Mexican music at your table. I say Mexican music with a purpose because one thing I did notice at the hotel, they don’t play enough local music for my liking. I always like to get the feel of the island I’m on and I did notice that I heard too much North American music around the place and not enough Spanish tunes etc. There are a lot of Canadians(especially from Quebec), and Americans as guests. You will also meet some Europeans, but on a smaller number.
Of course the Iberostar is a big diving site and plenty of divers make the constant trips all day long to the coral reefs. Apparently even if you are not certified and have never taken a real ocean dive, you can do so with a lesson in the pool. They will take you out to the coral reefs and assist you with a real 20-25ft scuba dive. Although I would have like to do it, I didn’t feel happy doing it on my own. Had someone in my party shown that interest, I certainly would have gone along and joined. Perhaps another time, when I bring my 20 year old sons. When it comes to the nightly entertainment it lacks a bit of pizzaz. 3 out of 7 nights were filled with guests interactive contests etc. but good for a laugh. A couple of evenings showcased the animation team performing musical dance routines etc. Friday night’s show is based on a story telling of the Mayan culture, which was actually very good.
I would definitely go back to Cozumel and the Iberostar. The place felt very safe and I had no worries about some of the turmoil and incidents we have all heard about Mexico. If you pass this up because of what you have heard in the news and the cautions thrown at us when it comes to Mexico, it’s a shame, because there certainly was no evidence of this at all in Cozumel and at the Iberostar.

The hotel is 19km from San Miguel and as noted by many others, to get anywhere is a 20USD taxi ride at least. A trip round the island cost 90USD but did include a stop at San Gervasio, which in my opinion are more interesting than those at Tulum.

The snorkelling was disappointing. There is no reef as such and the fish life is confined to a shoal of snappers or grunts that seek to confine them selves mainly to the pier location. I suppose having been to the Maldives and Red Sea many times, that comparisons are odious.

The grounds are beautifully tended with iguanas draped idly over the branches of the trees around the flamingo pond and peacocks mugging all and sundry for tacos at the el cedral restaurant. I've never before had a peacock actually push me aside to get to food!

I mainly went for the diving, which is spectacular. This hotel is ideally placed for all the best sites. The soft corals are more beautiful and colourful than their hard coral relatives and go to greater depths. I have never seen anything like them anywhere else in the world. The southern dive sites are full of swim-throughs and caves, which can be a little claustrophobic for some people. The reef must be a honeycomb of passages. But to emerge onto a wall at 34m and have pinnacles extending above, almost looking like the Alps in minature.....can't wait to go back.

The currents are however strong and sometimes it is difficult to stop to look at something that catches your attention.

The only drawback was that being an all inclusive resort, a party of guests did start drinking early and by early afternoon became rather raucous. But this was only for a couple of days. There is however, nowhere on the beach to escape from the noise and music played at the pool area.

Similarly, there is a beach bar to the north called Alberto's. I have been told that the food there is very good, but they do stay open late at night and some rooms with a northern aspect can be noisy as a result. If you keep the air-con on during the night the music from Albertos is not a problem. It gets drowned out. But the room then gets very cold! We did have to change our room, which the hotel managed quickly and efficiently for us.

We arranged a trip to Tulum at about half the cost of the organised tour, which in fairness also goes to a theme park. But if you just want to visit the ruins, you can get a very comfortable bus from Playa del Carmen to the ruins. When there, ignore the first official ticket office and just go to the entrance and buy the ticket there. You do not need a guide, costing 50USD. There is plenty of information on site notices.