Occidental Cozumel

Brent Geary

Absolutely beautiful stay! Every single thing about this place is what a vacation is supposed to be! Relaxing, beautiful and friendly. The food was good and they had a lot of choices. We tried everything and every place, except one. We did not get an opportunity to try the Mediterranean place but, if it was as good as the Mexican place (that require reservations) I am sure it was delicious. The Mexican restaurant was off the charts! Best fish I have ever had! The service is also top notch! Everything we needed was there or they got it. Lined a car rental up, an excursion..ect. Thank you Michael Lima! I was to give a special shout out to the three folks who really stood out to us. Didn't catch all of their last names but... Michael Lima!! Excellent service and friendly. He was easy to talk to, easy to work with and I very much enjoyed our conversations. Isaias as well! Great guy, also good at what he does, friendly and had some great conversations with him as well. And...can't forget Johnny be good!! (Not sure if it was spelled that way) but...super nice guy, super helpful and we also had some great conversations with him. If you get a chance, go stay at the Occidental in Cozumel. You will not regret it.

Kianna Wong

Roger and Jesus were absolute highlights of our stay at the Occidental Cozumel! As the activity coordinators, they brought so much fun, energy, and laughter to the resort. They were a huge part of what made our trip so memorable. My husband especially couldn’t wait to join in on their activities—half the reason was just to hang out with them! They are amazing at getting people involved while keeping everything light, fun, and welcoming. Pool volleyball was a total crowd favorite and always a blast. They were also fantastic hosts during the evening shows and really kept the energy up. Roger and Jesus truly made the experience special, and we’re so grateful for the joy they brought to our vacation. The resort is lucky to have them!

cheri knight

We have been to 5 star resorts that we have paid upwards of $6000 for. This one we paid $1800 and for that money it was ok. The food was basically the same every meal, not alot of choices. The rooms on the ground floor smelt old and damp. Its a walk to the beach. If you dont get up at 7am to reserve a chair, you dont get one. Pools aren't heated and small. Ocean was warmer and very nice. Side note..Air Canada rep was no help when flights were canceled. He promised us the world if anything happen..until it happen. The resort have 6 different prices to 6 different couples for an extra night stay when we did get canceled. They need to have a person who speaks all languages to communicate in time of needs!!

Ken Lo

1. The property is very well maintained, with lush grounds everywhere. For those that appreciate the greenery, this property is outstanding. It takes a lot of work to maintain such a place. 2. Our room was big, very strong AC. Strong water pressure. The housekeeper was friendly. We got whatever we asked. 3. Food was great. A lot of variety at the buffet restaurant. Service was always prompt. Some food was replenished slowly but it's understandable. A la carte restaurants had limited selection on the menu, but mostly delicious. TBH I prefer the buffet restaurant. 4. Pools were great. Drink services were great. Overall, everyone who worked there was courteous, and hardworking. I don't understand why some are complaining about this property. NOTE: I did not tip at all, but I still received amazing service. Note on the sales practice of their vacations club: We were intercepted by a salesman when we checked in, and we were to told to go for breakfast with them the next day and learn about how to make vacations more affordable with them in the future. We were told we will get some perks such as a free vacation certificate and some discounted snorkeling excursions. He said the breakfast would take 90 minutes. Next day we went and the breakfast was at the buffet restaurant, accompanied by the salesman. After eating we were asked a bunch of questions, then walked back to their office for more information. There were two packages that were being offered both with high upfront costs. After learning more we decided we could not do it. The whole thing took about 3 hours. And I attached the vacations certificate so you can decide whether it's worth it or not. Hint: the certificate is free, the vacation is not.

Lisa Swadling-Hamilton

The good the bad and the ugly. Not a 5 star more like a 2 star. Just got back from a 9 day stay with another couple. We arrived a day late due to bad weather so when we got there the next day, I think they were unprepared as they only had one girl working the check in (who was a bit rude and unfriendly, didn’t speak great English) so check in took a bit. We were given rooms in building ten, FYI if you get building 10 there are no safes or refrigerates in any of the rooms in that building even though their web page clearly states all rooms come with a safe and refrigerate. I noticed there was no safe before I even opened my suitcase and heading straight back to the front desk. They were not able to move us that night but did move us to another build the next day. For us that went very smoothly, we were treated very well, and the new room was great. The rooms are dated but very clean. Beds and pillows very comfortable and we slept great every night. The grounds are beautiful and very well looked after. The pools are wonderful and clean. The beach is great with nice white soft sand and in the ocean, you didn’t really need water shoes unless you were snorkeling which was great right off the resort. Wait staff are wonderful about coming around and taking your drink orders both by the pool and on the beach. Super great service. Dive center onsite was wonderful my husband did 5 dives while there and he said it was some of the best dives he has ever done. If you are there for a week you get 3 a la carte’s during your stay. If you arrive over the weekend, you can’t make any reservations until Monday at the front desk and it’s very hard to get times that aren’t around the 9pm mark so much must do all meals at the buffets. All the a la carte’s are amazing some of the best a la carte’s I have ever been too in my many years of travel. No for the bad and ugly The buffets are terrible worst ever. First off there is only one buffet for breakfast and it’s the same every day and all items that should be hot are NEVER hot. They aren’t even lukewarm most of the time. Food comes out of the kitchen cold. There is also only one buffet for lunch too. This too is terrible, with very little options that change from day to day and items aren’t hot either. I got food poisoning off the lunch buffet one of the afternoons and was vomiting and had diarrhea for 20 hours. On another day my friend got sick as well after lunch. The food is not safe as the food temperatures are not maintained properly. For the dinner buffet only one option too and it’s theme changes every day but the problem is that if its Asian or Italian themed, EVERYTHING on the whole buffet is Asian or Italian ,so if you don’t like that nights dinner theme there is NO other options on the buffet or any other places to eat unless you want to wait until 930 for them to open the pizza oven which is in the same location as the dinner buffet. I have never been someplace where you have such limited food options on a buffet. This buffet also is not kept hot either. And they are very slow to refill all the buffets so a lot of the times you are waiting for refills that are never refilled by the time your done eating. I did speak to the manager about my food poisoning, and she was going to speak to the food manager, so I hope they make some major food changes so no one else gets sick. The evening entertainment was just ok nothing great or mind blowing most of the time we didn’t stay to watch the whole show. This could be a wonderful resort as the jungle grounds are amazing and most of the staff are wonderful but due to the worst food and buffets and lack of food options we will never come back. We had a good time but getting so sick kind of ruined the whole experience for me as I still had 2 days to eat off the buffets and I was scared to eat anything off them again. I truly wish they would make some big changes in these areas because we would have for sure come back but no way I am going to risk my health again by having to eat off those buffets.