I stayed here last year with my family and I am planning to return this february again. It's not a fancy hotel but it is quiet clean and everyone that works there has a wonderful attitude. There are alot of stray animals in Mexico in general so you do see stray cats and dogs but they are all quite friendly and entertaining, as many of the locals call them loco!! There are tons of playas within walking distance if you are into partying and if you are adventurous just down the beach you can find this old turtle aquarium which still has many in tanks that are looked after by the owners. The best tip I have for staying here is to take the bus cause its a short walk away and super cheap, plus it doesn't get very busy. This isn't a hotel for the prissy but I recommend it for anyone that just wants to get away from it all.

Run, don't walk away from the Cristalmar. It is the most disgusting place that I have ever vacationed. The photos on the Web are 20 years old and the place is a nightmare. There is no game room, scuba center, private beach, boatdock, etc. The rooms are not fit for the homeless. The restaurant is outdoors and extremely hot. On the other hand, the food is extremely cold. There were cats, dogs, and iguanas running in and out of the kitchen. The mosquitoes were also unbearable. We only lasted two terrible nights before moving to the beautiful Avalon Reef Resort on Isla Mujeres. I gave up about $600 just to move out...

My husband and I stayed at the Cristalmar the week of May 15, 2005. Upon first arriving at the hotel we were pleased with the outside of the hotel. There are two sets of stairs to walk up, but you can probably get help with luggage if you need it. Check in was easy, a bell boy carried some of our luggage to our room, turned everything on and then left. The room was a two bedroom unit on the second floor, right above the pool area. The rooms were large, living room and kitchen were connected, a large bedroom and a smaller bedroom, a bathroom with a shower stall. Everything was clean and working. The kitchen has a small fridge and electric burners, the hood over the stove did'nt work. There were dishes and silverware, pots and pans. We only prepared breakfast in the room, so that was fine. The room did have some flaws, the second bedroom is small with a full size bed set diagonally which fills up most of the room. The beds were on the small size and rather firm. The bathroom mirror was spotted around the edges, but nothing that you could'nt live with. There are closets in the bedrooms which are large enough to accomodate everything, no dressers, only nightstands. The hotel in general is very quiet. The front desk clerk gives you water bottles upon check-in and you can refill them in their office at anytime.
The pool of the hotel is beautiful. It is kept clean every morning by a maintenance/pool man. He is very through with his cleaning of the pool and beach. There are papalas on the beach, we brought pool loungers down to the beach to sit on under the papalas. The hotel restaurant is next to the pool and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had lunch and dinner there a few times and the food and service was always good. The bar has only one bar stool, which I thought was kind of strange.
The ocean off the hotel is clean, has alot of sea grass, but all in all it is a nice clean beach to sit at and go swimming in. We mostly used the pool for cooling off in.
The front desk will reserve golf carts or trips for you, just ask them and they are more then happy to accomodate your request.
Playa Tiberon is next to the hotel. Everyday boat loads of day trippers came for lunch and spent some time at the beach. It was pretty busy everyday that we were there. There is also a nurse shark in a pen at Playa Tiberon, after everyone leaves you can go over and check it out. It doesn't seem to move!
The hotel beach is a good place to watch the beautiful sunsets.
The hotel must sell day passes to the pool because on the weekends it did get pretty busy with locals having outings and their children swimming in the pool.
All in all we really liked the hotel, the grounds are beautiful, the pool is beautiful and the beach is small but clean and comfortable, the hotel staff are friendly. You really feel like you are in Mexico here. We would stay here again.

I should have had a clue by the low prices and hot and cold running water listed as amenities in the room. We traveled with another couple thinking this was the perfect set up for us - a suite with 2 bedrooms. Privacy but still together. After our trip across the water on the 'fast boat' (it started raining just as we were about half way there), we landed on a beach in front of a hotel that clearly had been photographed from the middle of the ocean. As we got closer I could feel the impending doom that this was not going to be good. After making it to the lobby and paying we finally got to see our accommodations. The hotel was being renovated and there was 'stuff' everywhere. There were several cats hanging out along with the few other visitors. The view of the clothes lines next door were lovely and the room was dated and nothing fancy. We were just about to suck it up and stay when we found the rodent droppings in the bathroom around the tub. At that point we knew we could not stay. We paid for one night and left the island as fast as we got there. After 2 years we still get requests to tell this story, and it always earns many hysterical laughs. In my opinion the rating and web page of this hotel is very misleading.