Review: Iberostar Cozumel

[carnival]

(This is a crosspost from a different travel review site regarding our Sept. 2004 trip to Iberostar Cozumel. The car rental deal I found is no longer available. Sorry!)

We have just returned from eight days in Cozumel. Wonderful!

Simply gorgeous, Iberostar Cozumel has been carved out of and into the coastal wilderness of the island. It is lush and intimate with rooms in small, one or two story bungalows of a few rooms each. Flowers abound. Flamingos wade in a pond as parrots and macaws sit in the trees, looking down on the peacocks that wander the grounds. Lighted paths wind all through the resort, weaving around trees and connecting (eventually) everything to everywhere. Bring comfortable shoes as you are destined to do a lot of walking here, but you are bound to enjoy the stroll even if it means walking around an iguana sunning or a turtle sharing the path.

Leave your stateside concepts of five star luxury behind. The pace and the accommodations dance to the beat of a different drummer here. If you judge things by the friendliness of the staff and the genuine concern they show for your enjoyment instead of the clock or a AAA checklist, this place can be a slice of heaven on earth.

There are some drawbacks to the Iberostar, but if you go knowing what to expect many of these can be remedied, or at the least they will not come as a surprise.

It is a long distance to ‘town’, San Miguel. A taxi will cost $17 or $18 each way. We got a cheap rental car. It was a beat up VW bug convertible that shifted poorly, stalled occasionally, and cost us $107.71 for the week. It was a source of frustration, laughs, and worth every dime. Do your rental car shopping ahead of time. I found my deal by surfing the web. Once you are there, the same bug goes for closer to $44 a day. ‘Real’ cars go for quite a bit more.

The resort rooms are quite small. There was no dresser, and the only hook to hang wet things up on in our room was directly above the toilet paper roll in the bathroom. The beds are hard. We were so blissfully exhausted it never cost us any sleep, but we toyed with the idea of buying inflatable pool mattresses to soften the blow. We never did, and never really needed to.

The beach is rocky after it reaches the water. If you plan to enter the water, bring along water shoes and you will be fine. Up to the water’s edge it is all bright, smooth sand that was being groomed every morning at sunrise while we were strolling, picking up shells or playing with the occasional star fish that washed ashore.

Bring along insect repellant. You are in the ‘jungle’ here, and in the early morning or late evening hours you will want it.
The food quality varies wildly, making rollercoaster sweeps from high school cafeteria fare to grilled lobster tail and bananas flambe’. There is a lot of recycling. Do not be surprised when you see last night’s chicken nuggets in the morning buffet lineup. With the large selection, it never kept us from finding something great for every meal. You are allowed to make one reservation in either of the specialty restaurants for every three days you stay. We enjoyed them both, but I recommend you book yours soon after check-in. They can fill up.

Completely on the plus side are the Star Friends entertainment staff. They work all day running the scheduled resort events and then provide the entertaining shows in the theater at night. Vibrant, friendly, talented. This may not be Vegas, but then I never felt Sigfreid and Roy actually cared whether or not I was personally having a good time while I was in town.

A few more recommendations- if you do rent a car you can save some money by booking your own snorkel, dive, or tour excursions in town. Just steer clear of the time share hucksters. Likewise, the souvenir prices are much cheaper in town than on the resort, and in town they are cheaper still a block away from the ocean. You can also save money by converting dollars to pesos in town. The locals will round in their favor if you pay in dollars, and the resort rounds virtually the same way on converting your currency at the front desk. In town away from the shore you can do much better and make your money go further.

Sunday is the only day with no cruise ships docking. If you want to do an excursion or go shopping without worrying about crowds, make this your big day. Prices and difficulty making reservations fluxuate with the number of ships in port.

For all the tiny wrinkles, Cozumel and the Iberostar in particular are still fabulous gems. Given a chance, the resort staff can overcome any inconvenience and will go above and beyond to make your stay exceptional. They missed a wakeup call we requested, but did what they could to make up for the error (yes, I do know what you did and I thank you!) You get back what you give and more here. They want you to be happy when you leave- not because you leave.

‘All inclusive’ or not we tipped at every turn because, frankly, we would have been embarrassed to have let such superb effort go unappreciated. Tip your housekeeping staff and you will luxuriate in wild displays of what our daughter has dubbed, ‘towelgami.’ A bit of appreciation shown to the bar staff meant that my ‘usual’ was already pouring when they saw me approach the bar. These folks are all genuine, and they will give back tenfold any kindness you show them.

We felt pampered in paradise at the Iberostar and blessed to have seen the underwater treasures of Cozumel in Chankanaab Park and the various reefs. Come here, stay here, get yourself in the water and you will understand. In Cozumel, paradise comes in a different wrapper than it might in New York or Los Angeles. We are pretty modest midwesterners. We found we prefer their version to the saccharine service that comes with the stateside big city creature comforts.

Come for the island, the parks and the spectacular reefs. Come back because you know they honestly want you to. Thank you, Iberostar!

[chrisbokay]

Did you take any tours to get to Tulum or Chichen Itza?  Did you think that the Chankanab Nature Park was much better snorkeling than right off shore at the resort?  We are traveling with older people in the group and the flatter the water the better for them when snorkeling.  Your review was so helpful.  It is the first I have found that gave me some great insight to Iberostar.  I will definitely pack my repellent...was it necessary during the day time, too?
Thanks,
Chris

[carnival]

Hi. we wish we had take the Tulum xel-ha tour,supposed to be great..But we ran of of time. We didnt want to go to Chichen Itza as it is a long bus ride and hot and cramped (so we heard) Chakanaab park was great and better then snorkling off the pier at the hotel..but very dangerous. The water drops off of rocks about 7-8 feet immediately at the beach/ The way to get to the water is carved out of the rocks (slippery) with some handrails, and the surf pounds you as you try to get in or out.  The snorkeling was great once you are in the water but if you are looking for calm water, go out to Punta Sur..Its a National Park and take the tour to the beach (I think its about $5.00)  When we got to the beach we were the only ones there and the lifeguard took a raft and took us out snorkeling.. The water was very very calm and the lifeguard would go under the water to point things out life starfish and lobsters and then he would bring up the starfish so my daughter could hold it!! He was fantastic and took lots of pictures for us.. I would recommend that highly. We also took a snorkleing excursion on a party boat!! That was a blast too..If you are looking for an afternoon of fun take the snorkeling tour recommended at the front desk ($45.00 per person, 3 reefs and fruit and all you can drink) It was truly a good time.. i envy you--Hope you have a great trip!! 

[StarFriend]

I agree with everything that "carnival" has written, but I think the StarFriends deserve a little more credit than cuatro sentences.  They were the most enjoyable part of my trip.  I didn't get involved until the last day of our trip, but I believe that our last day was one of my favorites.  They played beach volleyball with you and literally "used their heads", if they had to.  They speak English extremely well.  Another thing is that they teach you how to dance if you would like to learn.  There is one song that is like a "Mexican Macerana" that I knew perfectly by the end of the week, even though I had never heard it before we had gotten there.

Okay, Done with the Star Friends credit.  If you are lokking for something to do one day, I strongly suggest the Pirates Cruise on the Mexican Carribbean.  My family went on it.  My brother and I were the two youngest people on the ship so we got picked on a lot.  I think they involved us the most out of the 30 people that were on the ship.  They give you a dinner also on the ship.  You can have either steak, lobster, or steak and lobster.  It was a night that I will never forget.   

[StarFriend]

What is the name of the Star Friend that wore sunglasses during the day and regular glasses at night?

[Meesh]

Hi!
I will be staying at the Iberostar in June for my honeymoon!  How much do you suggest we tip while we are there? 

[StarFriend]

I recommend to tip wherever you go.  When we went, if we got a drink at one of the bars, we would give them one US dollar.  At breakfast, we would leave a tip of one dollar.  At lunch, we would usually tip either a one or two dollars.  At supper we would always tip at least two US dollars, because everything was allways a little nicer.  We also left tips for the cleaning people a dollar, and we tipped the taxi drivers a dollar or two depending one how far they drove us.  I hope this helps....