Occidental Grand Cozumel Hotel

The Allegro in Cozumel was a great vacation experiance.The Good News:1. The resort grounds were just beutiful. Lots of flowers beutiful vegitation,palm trees etc.2. The beach was uncrowded and very scenic. You had to walk quite a while to find another resort down the beach unlike some other vacation places where they pack them in.3. The resort has 3 restaurants that were very nice and the staff takes good care of you.4. If you have kids, they have a kids club with a staff that keeps the kids and even the adults very busy with events all day. Beach vollyball, pool volley ball, egg toss games, water polo, pool basketball, crafts, yoga,water arobics, you name it.5. If you like diving or snorkling they have trips to reefs that are only about 10 minutes away. Well worth it too!6. They have night time entertainment at the outdoor theater and the shows were very well done. Some nights the crowd takes part in the entertainment with games. They even get the kids involved with one of the shows "The Lion King".7. I can't say enough about how friendly the staff is. Mr Bean "As he is called", Raul and the rest were great!The Not So Good Stuff:1. One word Arturo! There is this guy at the resort named Arturo who sells time shares. They have people who entice you with free rental cars and gifts to have you listen to a time share sales pitch. "DON'T DO IT" This guy Arturo is nice until you don't buy. My wife and I actually had to get up and walk out. "Yes without the free stuff!" He even yelled at us as we were going down the stairs so be aware of this Turkey!2. Try to stay away from the room #s starting with the #2. There is this septic tanks smell in that area of rooms that never goes away. The rest of the resort is fine.3. As I mentioned the restaurants were very good however be aware that you need to make reservations at the Mexican and Italian restaurants and good luck if you want to eat at each more than once. It turns out you are only permited to eat one dinner at each. They want all vacationers to have the opportunity to eat and I guess they fill up most nights so they limit you to one meal in each so everyone has the opportunity to eat there. The rest of the week you eat at the buffet. "Which was not bad" but they don't tell you that before you book your trip so be aware.4. If you want to shop downtown it is a long way across the Island. A $20 cab fare each way. So you are already spending 40 bucks or more before you even start shopping. There is a shop across from the resort that has lots or souvineres and was not bad price wise. See if you can find another couple or family to split the cab fare it could save you some jack.All in all though you will have an awsome vacation so start packing!Darren BroadbentCleveland Ohio Email me at dexter13425@aol.com if you have any questions.

We just returned from a week at the Occidental Grand and we had a fantastic time. In a nutshell, the resort is new, clean, very well-maintained and beautiful. The rooms are very large and well-appointed with all the comforts of home with the exception of a clock! Bring one if you want, but I hid my watch while I was there. My whole life is "Beat the Clock" so I wanted to get away from that. We stayed in room 1937, which was right by the relaxation pool and close to the beach. This was the PERFECT location in our opinion. We thought the food was excellent, especially Los Olivos, the Mediterranean resturaurant. The buffet was always good and fresh, and the drinks were awesome. The staff was incredibly accomodating and tried to please us at every turn. We got to know a few of them very well, and they made our stay extra special. We also really enjoyed sailing and swimming in the ocean. They are still having a slight problem with their beach because of the hurricaine in September, but it is not a big deal at all. If you stay there, be sure to attend the welcoming reception which is on Thursdays. It was a lovely party with fancy appetizers and champagne. The staff wore special mexican outfits and they had a group of guys singing mexican folksongs. We also ventured into San Miguel every night and enjoyed carnaval festivities. We also hung out with the locals at Viva Mexico bar and at La Pura Vida, the new salsa club in town. Cozumel is a very safe place, and we never felt threatened or unsafe even as 2 chiquitas traveling together. I would highly recommend this place to all of you. It was a magical vacation! I am already planning to go next year.Salut!

Spent the week of March 1st 8th at the Occidental Grand in Cozumel. The pictures on-line and in the brochures do not do this place justice. What a beautiful resort! From the moment you drive up and are greeted with a glass of champagne to the walk/ride to your building, the flowers, articheture and sense of peacefulness is overwhelming! Everyone is so relaxed and in a vacation state of mind. Well, not everyone. The staff at the resort work like crazy. In the morning one of them will be clearing off breakfast plates and in the evening making drinks in the disco. For working as hard as they do, they have a great attitude and really make you feel at home. There are a few with an attitude. I will first start with the rooms. When I first checked in, I was on the first floor. I opened the door at the musty smell just came poring out of the room. I called and requested to get moved to the second or third floor and they did not hesitate one bit. What a difference. Not sure what it is about the first floor. When you check in I would consider requesting the 2nd or 3rd floor. The rooms are beautiful. Bathrooms are huge. There is a safe in the room to lock up passports, money, jewelry etc... The beds were new so they were pretty hard and the pillows were thick. Overall the rooms are great. Dont be surprised if housekeeping is knocking on your door very early in the morning. Also, they dont always leave towels in your room after they clean. Not sure what was up with that. The maid was usually right there and would get them for you ASAP. The food... Every time you turn around there is food being served. Breakfast is served in the main dining room. There is something for everyone. Lunch is either in the main dining room or out by the activity pool. Once again, something for everyone. Dinner If you want to eat in one of the two specialty dining rooms, you need to make reservations first thing in the morning. Otherwise you have to eat in the main dining room with thhe specialty rooms, you need to wear shoes and pants for guys! The attire police are out in force. They are just trying to keep things high class. Watch what you eat. Make sure the chicken is done! Overall, the food was really good. I for sure gained a few lbs on this trip. Pools There is a kids activity area and pool, relaxation/adult pool and the main activity pool. The activity pool is where all the action is. They have music playing, water activities (volleyball) and people hanging out getting to know one another. The pool bar opens at 10AM! And unfortunately closes at 5ish. Most people stick around and watch the sunset which was at 6PM. A drink would have been nice. They should keep the pool bar open until at least 6PM. Night Life is basically what you make of it. There is a lobby bar which has live music from I think 7-9:30. Most people hang out there before and after dinner. The disco opens at 7PM. Otherwise jump in a taxi and head downtown to Carlos & Charlies or Senor Frogs. You are guaranteed a great time. I forgot to mention there is a Pizza joint open until 1AM. Homemade personal pizzas. Great after bar food! To wrap this up, I would defiantly go back. If you are looking for tons of action, this is not the place for you. If you are looking to just chill, soak up some sun and forget about life for a week, this place is defiantly for you. So there is not a towel in your room, pick up the phone dial 0 and within 5 minutes a towel will be at your door. Remember, this not the Beverly Hills Hotel, it is Mexico. The resort staff does there best to put up with us high maintenance Americans. Enjoy your stay!!

overall this is a very nice resort. the food was very good and the rooms were clean. the service was very good at all times. the one thing lacking was nightly entertainment after dinner there was nothing much to do. also, the taxi to town was expensive 15usd. other than that a very nice place.

I had a fantastic time in Cozumel. The hotel was so beautiful and the staff was unbelievable. I had a smile on my face for my entire vacation! I would definitely recommend any and everyone to stay here! I can't wait to go back.

We stayed the week of Feb.14th-21st. The rooms were nice, however, don't plan on sleeping in. Starting at 7:30 am the staff was moving furniture in the LARGE room above us since the floors are tile, and they were dragging it across the floor, it sounded like nails on a chalk board. You can also here the evertime anyone around you shuts a door. The staff was very nice. The beach was very pretty, and kept clean. The food was pretty good, there was a lot of items on the buffet to chose from. The steak house was VERY average. The grounds are kept up very well, and the pools are very nice and kept clean. The disco at night is a fun place to dance and play pool. Overall, this is a nice resort.

My wife and I stayed at the Occidental Grand in Cozumel from February 19-22. Our stay was wonderful. I was very apprehensive about staying there at first because all of the pictures of the place are not so nice. Well upon arrival I was relieved to see the pictures did not do the place justice. It is a very nice and quiet resort. The food was great at the restaraunts that you made reservations at. Steak house and Mediteranean were really good, we did not get a chance to eat at the Mexican or Pizza place. I thought that the buffet was great. There was a wide variety of things to chose from. I ate everything from the raw smoked salmon to the desserts and never got sick and nor did my wife. My wife thought that the buffet got a bit repetitive but they did add new things each day. After all you are in Mexico. They had a nice lunch buffet set up down by the beach also. The rooms were great also we were in the Basic deluxe room which included 2 double beds, a sitting area and a patio with two chairs on it. The bathrooms were enormmous both tub and giant shower. The cleaning staff made the beds and restocked the fridge daily. Never emptied the trash but kept the towels plentyful. The Air conditioner was great in our room always cool I even turned it up because it was a tad bit to cold a time or two. Be advised that NOTHING dries there. you might want to try putting things out in the sun because it will not dry in your room. The staff was great also. Where ever you went they always greeted you with a smile and "Hola". There is a pretty expansive kids area that was not even used by anyone that I saw. They even had there own kids pool. There was a quiet pool with giant chess and chairs to lay out on. Across a small bridge there was a bigger activity pool. Scuba lessons, snorkeling and water aerobics took place here. There were plenty of chairs and places to lay out around here. I took scuba lessons with Irene and loved it. She was a great instructor and really took time to make you feel comfortable. The Scuba lessons started every morning at 9:00 AM and lasted a few hours. If you were comfortable you could then go on the beach dive later that day, that cost ($58.00 US) worth every penny I saw spotted morey eel, scorpion fish, a school of thousands of fish and many more things. The next day I went on the boat dive (68.00 US) and that was great also. Saw a shark turtle and barracuda and many other fish. There is an underwater camera there to rent for (45.00 US) but beware you use alot more oxygen moving around to take photos and this will cut your dive about 10-15 minutes short. The boat picked you right up from the beach. My wife went parasailing from the resort also that cost (50.00 US) but she loved it. There were also windsurfing boards, Hobies and Kayaks to go out in. There are a few things about this resort you should know about. The beach is not that wide due to a hurricane that went thru in October 2002. But it is a great place to snorkel. The Occidental Allegro is about 5-10 minutes walkng down the shore and the snorkeling there I was told was better. Also as a guest at the Occidental Grand you had the rights to go to the Allegro and use there stuff, but as a guest a the Allegro you could not come over to the Grand. A taxi to Cozumel was 15.00 but often you could share a ride with other guests. Tell the driver you are all together or you will be charged two separate fares. The ride was about 10-15 minutes into town. You could rent a scooter or car but driving to me looked a bit scary. Over all this was a great resort to stay at IF you wanted a nice quiet relaxing time. There were activities but the night life a the resort was quiet. A disco started at 10:30 but I never went to that. If you are a partying college student there is a place called Cancun about 2 hours away, although there is a Senior Frogs in Cozumel. One last thing is American money is used there as much as the peso so don't worry about exchanging money just bring lots of 5's and 1's. I can't wait to go back and would love to stay there again. One thing you have to remember is that you are not in the United States if you respect the people and the culture they will respect you, thing don't move as fast and you may wait longer than you thought for something, but remember you are on vacation .... relax a bit. Any questions please e-mail me.

Spend one week in December with wife and 2 older kids (15 & 18). A great property with very nice, but small rooms. Very clean room but it was very humid. Large bathrooms. There is not much to do at night, no nightly entertaintment. Choice of buffet (ok) and two restaurants which were good. My 18 year old liked the disco and unlimited beer. Be warned the drinking age in Mexico is 18.

I visited Cozumel on Valentine's Day weekend, 02/14/03, this past week. Because this was my first trip to Cozumel, I relied heavily on reviews, such as these, to make my decision regarding a hotel. Needless to say, I am in complete agreement that the rooms are great. They are large and well decorated with a substantially large marble bathroom. Enough said about the rooms though. SERVICE - Let's talk about the service. The service was adequate to poor. The guy at the front desk was less than helpful when we first checked in. Even discounting the fact that English was not his first language, I still did not get the impression that he wanted to help me. When I went to my room, the bellboy didn't even help with our luggage. Secondly, you had to caux the waiters into servicing you. I speculate all of this is a function of the fact that no tipping is allowed. It seemed these individuals had no incentive to make your stay a good one. Which should not be the case regardless of where you are. GROUNDS - Our room faced a bunch of shrubs and wild brush that were probably left behind when they initially cleared the land to build this resort. The main quad area and a majority of the grounds themselves are sterile and devoid of any "tropical" feel. Lets just say that if you didn't already know that the beach was there you would think that you were in a desert resort, like in Palm Springs, California. There is a tiny ocean view there if you are lucky enough to be in one of the third floor rooms near the beach and you look over the tree/shrub line. Other than that, your looking at what I just described. Also the main grounds are set apart from the beach by a relatively long bridge that takes you over some stagnant marshes. FOOD - the food was good at times and bad on other occassions. the resort has four restuarants. Only the buffet is open for breakfast and only the beachside grill is open during lunch. There are no other options. At night you have the buffet and two other reservation requiring, dress code enforcing restuarants. They only take reservations from 8am - 1pm daily. So if you don't make a reservation, you're at the mercy of the buffet. My suggestion is to make a reservation at one of the "nice" restuarants, who serve relatively small portions, and then go to the buffet, which you can walk in and out of at will, to supplement. Otherwise, you can experience the joy of eating what i call "the breakfast sausage" beffet theme day where I saw a large tray of breakfast sausages appear in the morning, then it was chopped up and served in a pasta dish at lunch and then appeared again at the buffet dinner in some paella. MY SUGGESTION - Although my review sounds bleek, I will say that compared to the other hotels on Cozumel this is the nicest one. The only thing, sadly enough, that salvaged my stay here and made it a little more pleasant was the fact that I upgraded my room to the royal club rooms when I got there, out of necessity. It cost me an extra $30 per person per night to get it, but in doing so I got a jacuzzi tub, bath robes, free cd's and dvd's to watch on the dvd player and cd player (for those quiet evenings cause there isn't much to do at nite here) and most importantly it gets you your own Royal Club concierge (Ana - who was great and actually seemed to want to help), who got us a dinner reservation at one of their restuarants when everyone else told us they were booked. It also gets you room service, which the regular rooms do not have, so in essence you have access to a third "nice" restuarant (especially handy when it rained one night.) But even better, your room comes with mini honor bar with small bottles of alcohol that they don't serve at the regular bar. And I almost forgot, it permitted us to have a late checkout at 3:30 p.m. instead of the regular room check out at 12:00 p.m. Because of these minor upgrades and because the private concierge was extremely helpful, I gave this place four stars. But let me be the first to say that no one should have to pay extra to get good service, expecially considering the fact that this hotel is not that inexpensive to begin with.

My girlfriend and I just returned from our vacation at the Occidental Grand Cozumel and I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed our visit. The resort is beautiful, the food was outstanding and the staff was excellent which provided for the perfect vacation experience.