I just love this place.My little slice of heaven in Cozumel. Villas Ixchel is away from the hustle of downtown in the quite neighborhood of Colonial Independencia across the street from an elementary school.
Rosie the owner, is just a wealth of information on the island and is always willing to share her knowledge and also is a hoot to be around.She has lived in Mexico for many years and also runs a snorkel tour out of the complex.
I am extremely picking when it comes to cleanliness and I would have to say Villas Ixchel is one of the cleanest places I have ever stayed in.
The garden is beautiful and peaceful and I just love sitting on the patio watching the hummingbirds flying around.Native fruit trees and many flowers to numerous to name just enhance the beauty.
Although not downtown, it is a 30 minute walk to the square or a 2 dollar cab ride. I usually rent a economy car during my stay for drives to the east side and general getting around as there is always plenty of safe parking out front of the villa.
I have stayed in 2 of the 4 rooms and personally toured the other 2 and love them all. My new favorite is the upper garden room with it's airy room and view of the surrounding homes and garden.
When I walk through the door at Villas Ixchel I truly feel that I have come home.

My family traveled with another family to Mexico for Thanksgiving 2006. We wanted to snorkel and have heard that Cozumel is the place to go. Our web search turned up Roswitha and her personalized snorkeling tour. What a find!

Making the arrangements was easy. Everything was done via email before we even left the states. We had 10 in our party and we even discussed which boat we wanted to use ...complete with emailed photos to help us choose.

The tour was fabulous. It was great to have just our group on the boat with Roswitha, her boat "captain" and another dive master. We felt we were in great hands! Roswitha plans on three sites and it is really important to point out that we passed by other tour groups on the way to her "pick" sites.

The sites were amazing...we would put off the boat and swim with the current over some beautiful coral, tortoise, schools of fish, a sand ray, hugh starfish, and some other amazing creatures whose names I have forgotten. Once we were at the end (or someone was tired along the way) the boat would come by for the pick up. We were not part of hugh crowd of people swimming in the ocean, it was just us and we really felt like we were exploring our own piece of the world.

If you want a really great, personalized snorkeling (or diving) tour you should contact Roswitha. She truely tailors the tour to the needs and desires of the customer. It turns out that, during our stay, there were unusual northwinds and a cold front that impacted boats being able to leave the port. Not a problem...Roswitha and I were in contact via cell phone and changed the day of our trip to have better weather. Now that is customer service!

Jody from Chicago

This was the best snorkeling adventure we've ever been on. Rosie is so full of information and helps eveyone out. This is not your typical snorkeling boat. It is an intimate tour with few people. Rosie is so knowledgeable and so sweet. The snacks were awesome! We will definitely come back again!

Villas Ixchel is a great place to stay in San Miguel. It's a good walk from the town centre but we enjoyed getting away from the crowds and there are so many different routes to take that we always found our walks interesting. We had an upstairs studio apartment and it was bright, super clean, airy and cool for sleeping, and had everything we needed. Looked out over a nice garden too. The neighborhood is totally safe and we found the locals to be always friendly and gracious. Roswitha is a really helpful host and the housekeeping service is outstanding. The price is right too. And make sure you go to Coffelia on Calle 5 sur for the best breakfast in town! Rent a car for a day and drive around to the other side of the island as well - it's amazing.