Occidental Cozumel

Overall enjoyable stay 27 Feb - 06 Mar 17. Pros great sandy beach large clean rooms immaculate lush grounds friendly helpful staff Pro Dive provided excellent diving experience Cons buffet small, very bland repetitive selections constant sewer smell around building 17 (where we stayed) musty smell in our room disappointing meal at seafood restaurant, limited menu poor quality nightly shows

2nd trip back 14 days

we have returned twice, and the improvements improve. Barceló bought out in oct 2016 with an intensive upgrade to the property . Examples .new pillow top mattresses , linens, pillows, usb ports...wifi on the way.. wine/cooler fridge, block out drapes, bathroom fixtures, additional loungers at the pool and planted beach palms for shade, This is a 4.5 and are returning march 20th with a 90 yr young mother...the small 250 rm complex is easy too navigate and has beautiful grounds...not children in [... read more]tensive as the sister property Allegro with family orientation. You will be surprised.

Excellent

Great resort Great staff We found the staff to be very friendly and accommodating. I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone traveling to Cozemel . The pool and beach area were very good with lots of events every day.

Snorkeling Heaven

My wife and I both loved Occidental Cozumel. The snorkeling off the resort beach is fantastic seen yellow rays,squid,barracuda and countless other fish. I was snorkeling at least 3 hours a day. If you have a chance to snorkel the reefs (afternoon excursion to two different reefs do it you won't regret it)(shark,dolphins,eagle rays and sting ray all in one afternoon) The resort is small and is in a beautiful setting...wildlife everywhere nature lovers will love it here..The food is OK. Small buf [... read more]fets that are understaffed. This is not a wild party resort. The booze flows freely and everyone was having a good time. You always get a few people that complain. Try the roof top pizza the cozumel pizza was are favorite (Seafood). We met with many return travelers that said the resort is improving all the time......I think we will return also.

Great beach

We had some problems with construction in our building. We were taken care of by a lovely lady at the front desk Sara Gonzalez. Renovations and internet wiring did not stop us from enjoying the beach. The buffet is very small, but you always find something to eat. Suggest ordering room service for breakfast as bacon is served on the "American breakfast" Not available at buffet. Did not make reservations for specialty restaurants as line up in morning turned me off. If you go with concierge servi [... read more]ce they are booked for you on arrival. Building 19 closest to the beach. Very nice lush gardens.

Occidental Cozumel

Most beautiful place to go.Very safe, great staff,white sand beach,plenty of fish just off the dock.secluded area away from town.Visits by large eguanas ,coatis, and wild boars.lovely views from ocean side pools and lunch restaurant.Small buffet only down fall but still plenty of food.I have been to lots of places and this is one of my favorites.Would recommend it to anyone,young or old

Very Nice Experience !

Excellent value .....a little understaffed in the dining room but they try very hard....the grounds are outstanding! As usual there is a shortage of shade ........why is this always a problem ????? The pools and beach area need more chairs and lounges.....there is plenty of room for more but they don't want to provide ample seating for guests ....very short sighted! I don't mind getting up at 6 am to go down to the water's edge to claim a spot but a lot of people are very upset by the lack o [... read more]f available seating.

Occidental Cozumel - very good to excellent locale (rooms, too)

As above, rooms excellent with all conveniences - some long walks - (# 18) nice grounds and walkways (why no benches to sit) ?? espec. when a bit disabled. Occas. got a ride. Beach good, pools good (I am a swimmer) but too many iguanas...........

Super!

Fantastic staff, good location, beautiful siteseens, good value for money, amazing beach. Rooms are clean and spacious. Gardens are well taken care of with a lot of wildness. The sunset is breathtaken.

Cozumel Occidental Grand, pros and cons

Here is my evaluation of the Occidental Grand Cozumel at which my friend and I stayed January 27 to February 3, 2017. The evaluation is meant to help you guide others who might be contemplating staying at this resort. 1. The grounds of this hotel are quite beautiful and meticulously maintained. The cottages are secluded and interspersed, each sitting in a lovely botanical setting and independent of the others, offering perfect privacy. 2. Our room seemed to have been recently renovated. I [... read more]t was a generous size, clean, and bright. The linen was good quality. Bottled water in our room was always in good supply. I found that tipping the maid ahead guaranteed exceptional service. She was excellent. 3. The bathroom also seemed new, tiled from floor to ceiling in a terracotta large tiles. 4. Hot water was always available, and the shower heads, one fixed and one hand-held, worked well. The safe and the closet were both situated in the bathroom. This is not a practical arrangement. This inconvenience brought my rating of the room to "fair" 5. If we left a request, towels were replaced daily, and in generous numbers. 6. Bathroom items such as soap and shampoo were plentiful. 7. The air-conditioning unit worked; however, the thermostat control did not. No matter at what temperature we set the unit, it ran continuously. The air-conditioning vent was situated in an upper section of the wall in such a way to blow directly onto one of the beds. 8. The fan in the room worked and for my purposes was a perfect solution to nocturnal temperatures. I am a sound sleeper and the buzz of the fan did not disturb me. 9. The main buffet restaurant offered average quality dishes, but there was ample choice, and even a chef making tasty meat or fish dishes to request. Salad choices were ample, vegetables were offered raw as well as cooked, and there were numerous desserts. The desserts to me were mostly inedible, but perhaps my dessert palate is not accustomed to Mexican sweets. For example, their mousse bore no resemblance to mousse one eats at our restaurants. There was, however, always fresh fruit. 4. We were led to believe that we would be entitled to eating at speciality restaurants 3 times during our stay. However, once we checked in, someone told us that the resort is so full that we would be able to eat at these restaurants only 2 times during our stay. Evidence showed that this is a deliberate deception in the brochure, as these speciality restaurants were never filled to capacity. On the contrary, they seemed more than half empty every single day. 4. Food in speciality restaurants turned out to be exactly the same as in the buffet. The chef took a tiny cut of meat or fish (2 square inches), fanned a few slices of zucchini and carrots around it, and drizzled some reduced balsamic over the dish, and presented it as a gourmet plate. The pasta in the Mediterranean Room was really quite horrible, overdone and soggy. The Seafood Specialty Restaurant on the beach was mediocre at best, although the ocean view and the stars made up for the food mediocrity. All in all, one did better to eat in the buffet restaurant and design one’s own specialty dishes. 5. The waiters were all hardworking and accommodating, courteous and professional. 6. The beach was always overcrowded and it was nearly impossible to find two chairs together. 7. The big pool offered no shade whatsoever. 8. The smaller adult pool was lovely with new well padded loungers. Iguanas lived by the pool, sometimes as many as 8. I found the first 2 charming “guests”, but more than that an utter annoyance. I could tell the iguanas were enjoying themselves, making love all day and resting in between. Another negative about this pool was how guests monopolized the chairs by parking towels on them at 7 am and not showing up until after lunch. The only way we could get a lounger was to come out at 7 am as well. We felt no guilt over this tactic because we actually used the loungers all day. 9. My biggest complaint about this resort is unequivocally about the vast number of smokers around the pool and in the lobby area. Since we in Canada (perhaps in big cities only) find smoking to be so passé and so dangerous really, I had a hard time with this imposition on my enjoyment of the resort. For this reason alone, I would never revisit this resort. 10. The gym had new equipment: 3 treadmills, 1 elliptical, 1 bicycle, one rowing machine, and various weights. It was never busy, so I could enjoy 2 hours every day of uninterrupted solitude and alone time. BELOW IS A REPORT ON WHAT HAPPENED TO US BECAUSE WE DID NOT KNOW AHEAD OF TIME OF THE DANGERS OF SALES PEOPLE DECEPTIONS: Immediately as we deplaned and entered the Cozumel Airport terminal and asked for a Transat rep, we were led to a booth where a man claimed to be part of the Transat team. He stressed the urgency of talking to him first, so we will know what the best and most economical way was to arrange tours, etc. Ten minutes into this presentation, we realized he had nothing to do with Transat and dashed outside to be sure we had not missed our ride to the resort. We barely made it. And by the way, everything this man told us was a lie. The first morning of our resort stay, we ventured into the lobby to ask about an upgrade, as you suggested. Since the lobby was populated by many desks and many people in uniform, we asked the first available person how much an upgrade would be. He led us to a desk and ensured us the person sitting behind it would be the best person to arrange this upgrade. This was where our nightmare began. The story is very long and extremely frustrating, but in a nutshell: we were guaranteed by 3 people who were called in as back-ups, that the upgrade would be $US 21/night, but we first needed to speak to one more person to secure this upgrade request. Before we realized it, we were sitting in a large room, being given a time-share sales pitch. We then made it clear that we were not interested in time share. After many, many more little incidents and protests, we were led back to the original “liar” to finally arrange the promised upgrade. Unfortunately, he said this upgrade is no longer $US 21, but $US 37. On and on it went, until the room was actually not available for another 4 nights, etc. etc. I finally realized the lies were getting bigger, and raised my voice to let them know that they were all lying and giving the resort a very bad name. In the end, we did have some marvellous luck that the reception manager Gabriela heard me and called us over to her desk. By way of compensation, she gave us the upgrade for free, although the room itself would only be available on Monday. She also commented that these sales people are not part of the resort, and that they lie continuously to everyone and anyone they trap for their sales pitch. As part of Gabriela’s generosity, we had free wifi in the lobby and in the upgraded Royal Club section, we had access to La Caretta, by far the best restaurant on the premises (where we ate often), we had access to the Royal Club pool. In fact, we had all the privileges of the Royal Club members. On Monday, we decided not to move rooms, as our room was fine and moving seemed at that point not worth all the effort. I felt sincere gratitude for Gabriela’s kind offer and to make up somewhat for the free upgrade, I rewarded the restaurant staff with generous tips when we ate at The Caretta. The waiters were attentive, pleasant, professional, and welcoming. Mosquitoes and other bugs: On our fight back, I noticed a few bumps on my arms and hands, but paid no attention. On Saturday morning when I woke up in my own bed, I counted 19 oversized bite marks—raised red bumps on my left arms, 7 on my right, several on my back, and the itchiness began. I am on Benadryl and confident the marks will disappear. I don’t know what caused them—mosquitoes or flies, but they are not pleasant to live with. The odd thing is that I did not feel the bites when they happened. So, all in all, although this resort has truly lovely and well maintained grounds, friendly and courteous staff, and is well priced, I would not recommend it to people who like pristine open spaced beaches, quiet pool areas, a smoke-free environment, and insect free spaces. I myself would not go back. As well, I would not go to Mexico because of the utter lack of professional work ethics of sales people. Feel free to share my outlook on Cozumel Occidental Grand with your clients. This report in no way reflects your part in this trip (Tripcentral agent), as you were flawless in your arrangements. Thank you. N.B. I would like to remain anonymous in the context of not sharing my email address with anyone other than Tripcentral staff.

Well kept resort

The grounds of the reset are very well bushed in. Rooms looked like they had recently been renovated. It is a Smaller resort..depending what you are looking for and mostly older residents. The food was amazing but seemed to have to wait in line for 10 min some days just to get a table, espesually for lunch. The beach was not cleaned on a daily basic but still seemed to be okay.

Beautiful location

Service was excellent, very friendly staff. Beach was very crowded due to a small beach area for chaise lounges. Difficulty getting chaise lounges in the pool area. The food was plentiful, although much of the same menu every day. Warning to avoid salesmen trying to sell upgrades re: taxi service from the airport.very clean rooms, good linens provided.

The hotel was beautiful and amazing

The hotel was beautiful and amazing in the staff at the concierge area were wonderful probably the best service ever including the service at the beach was great as well would highly recommend going to being the beach is beautiful

Great Holiday!!

We thought the place was wonderful, people were so friendly and helpful and always had a smile on their faces, they worked so very hard and everything was so clean. Would recommend more help in the bar areas or even a waitress/waiter to come around taking orders in the evenings to relieve the line up at the bar and maybe more of a selection of food in the evenings, I never went hungry, but there was two evenings where I only had bread and deserts for dinner, the food was always good, though the [... read more] selection only was hard to detect what it was, I was never left hungry!! Loved the resort and will for sure go back! Victor and Lordes were always there it seemed and always made a point of saying hi.

Exactly what we were looking For

Very nice smaller sized hotel, looks like they cater more to adults, but can accommodate families. It was marvellous to laze by adults pool, see the bar across the pool from you, then you see your three storey group of rooms just beyond that... Food selection was very good, drinks were cold. Oscar was wonderful finding excursions for exactly what we were looking for. Got trapped into a time-share one hour talk that lasted three hours on our first morning there... Tell us sir what do you think of [... read more] our hotel? Well I have not had time to see anything yet!!....Warning- if you want to take excursions on the mainland.... add a 20 minute taxi ride (and cost) plus 45 minute ferry ride (and cost) each way... It adds to tour costs and adds maybe 3 additional hours to your day

Beautiful resort

The Hotel resort was impeccable. The food was very good. Restaurants a la carte not very interesting. The $500 dollars savings at the Resort as offered was not as described, it was only discounts. People are very nice.

Need work and better management should be able to help. Food is a whole different ball game.

Grounds, lovely, evening entertainment, none really. Bar with cappuccino machine for morning coffee not open until 11:00am...UGH Fridge in room needs to be filled with a bit more than 3 water and 3 beer...REALLY. We are not children. Many employees, not all, are not in holiday mode and if nothing else should smile. Reserving tables... when we are the first to arrive at a booked restaurant and are told a table is reserved and we can't have it, reserved, really...that is bulls..t. If we [... read more] are there first we should not have to sit in front of the kitchen door and serving buffet with all the serving staff running around us all night.!!!!

Fantastic!

Beautiful resort with very lush, manicured vegetation. The secluded Mexican Hacienda style buildings and layout leave the impression of a more upscale, quiet hotel (in comparison to multiple all-inclusive resorts we have visited in the past). We enjoyed the nice sandy beach, watching sunsets from the wooden pier, dancing in the courtyard under the stars to a live band as well as a huge variety of food and drinks. The rooms and bathrooms are very spacious and finished to a high standard. Everyon [... read more]e we dealt with at the resort was kind, attentive and helpful. Thank you for a wonderful vacation!

Very nice resort

The grounds, gardens, beach was very nice Weekends no entertainment Disco was lame Pool table fun, staff were all excellent - friendly and helpful During the week very good entertainment with dancing shows and singing No swim up bar but the bar was right beside the pool - accessible and convenient. Good drinks. Some activities by the pool - enjoyed the free scuba demonstration, never seen that before Snorkeling available - do the day Jeep tour - that is when you see the best snorkeli [... read more]ng Be careful of the time share people.

Lush and beautiful!

If our room wasn't exquisite enough, getting to it was amazing. All paths run amid lush tropical trees, palms and shrubs, very well maintained. The room was gorgeous with marble floors and counters, rain showerhead, comfortable bed and wonderful balcony! The pool is right beside the beach so you could relax or be part of the activities. Plenty of sunshine activities! Volleyball in and out of the pool, tennis, aquagym, snorkelling, scuba training, kayaking, many more, all free. The only thing th [... read more]at worried me was what to do if it rained a few days? There was a spa, gym and billiards but that only lasts so long. In any case we didn't need to worry; we had 6 out of 7 gorgeous days. Oh ya, and the resort is one of very few that has a sandy beach on crystal blue waters... the others around us were rocky. The buffets were delectable, and the restaurants superb. I had a fabulous week!