Melia Cozumel All Inclusive Resort Stay May 16 - 19, 2005

by Tim Larison

Anne and I love cruises, but we had never stayed at an "all inclusive" resort. We jumped at the chance for a 3 night/4 day stay at the all inclusive Melia Cozumel resort in May 2005. In addition to experiencing an all inclusive resort for the first time, we would be returning to the Island we enjoyed visiting just two months earlier on our Holland America cruise. Below I will review different aspects of our stay and how it compares to a "cruise" experience.

The Resort - Melia Cozumel

We had a 9th floor room with a beautiful view of the ocean and the beach below. For a standard hotel room we had quite a bit of space. The room had two large queen beds, a sofa, plenty of closet space and a large bathroom area. We found the resort to be well maintained. The staff was very friendly and we frequently encountered cleaning crews during the day at different areas of the resort. The Melia is an older resort than some of the other "all inclusives" on Cozumel. We saw some of these other resorts on a tour of the Island, and in comparison the Melia architecture and structures seemed dated, but this was still a nice place to stay thanks to excellent care by the Melia staff. We liked being so close to the beach and the ocean. Some of the other all inclusives on the Island did not have as many units this close to the beach.

Dining

During our stay Melia's main La Isla restaurant was being renovated. The La Iguana, normally a snack bar, served as the buffet restaurant during our trip. We particularly liked the "made to order" entrees at the La Iguana grill. The first night we had excellent grilled pork ribs at this restaurant and on subsequent mornings I enjoyed cooked to order omelets at the grill. At lunch time hamburgers, hot dogs, and other grilled items were available. The buffet offerings at the La Iguana were average, with the exception of an excellent fresh fruit portion of the salad bar.

We liked the oceanfront location of the snack bar. We dined in a covered patio area, overlooking the beach. The best restaurant on the property was the Cafe Paraiso Gourmet Restaurant. To dine at this restaurant we had to make same day reservations at the front desk between 7 am and 1 pm. We arrived too late on our first day to eat here, but we had excellent meals at the Cafe Paraiso on our other two nights.

Cafe Paraiso was in the rear of the resort in its own building. The atmosphere was very romantic with candlelight lighting, a large aquarium in the center of the restaurant, and a pianist playing classic hits as we dined. Dinner here consisted of an appetizer, salad, soup, entree, and dessert. The menu changed daily. I liked the shrimp dish I had the first night, and a chicken dish the second night. Anne also liked the shrimp. Her beef entree the second night was good but not great. We both enjoyed the dessert choices (especially the cheese cake!)

Being new to the "all inclusive" concept, we liked that there was never any pressure to tip our servers, and that we could eat as much as we wanted at no extra charge. While we rarely drink alcohol at home, we did indulge more on this trip with a wide selection of free drinks available. We found the drinks to be of good quality.

Activities

With its beautiful beachfront location, the Melia had a wide variety of water sports to choose from. Wave runners, parasailing, horseback riding on the beach, windsurfing, kayaking, and snorkeling were just a few of the activities available. In addition the resort had a nice tennis court (we played a set there) and basketball area. The Melia is best known for its close location to a championship golf course. Resort guests could play the course at no extra charge (equipment and golf cart rental were extra). For golfers this is a great place to stay. While we participated in some of the resort activities, we enjoyed most just relaxing on the beach. There were plenty of shady spots and the beach never seemed crowded. We saw many honeymooners and young couples at the resort, along with a few families.

Other things to see and do in Cozumel

We decided we were going to spend most of our 3 1/2 days in Cozumel enjoying our resort. We were tempted to do an all day excursion to see the Tulum Ruins on the mainland, but decided we would save that for another trip or cruise. Instead I arranged a 4 hour Island tour on our second day with an American named Harry from Cozumel Tours. For $60 per person Harry gave us a custom 4 hour tour of the Island. We received a good overview of the Island as Harry drove us around - he was quite willing to stop whenever we wanted for us to take pictures or spend more time at a particular location. Being travel agents we wanted to see some of the other all inclusive resorts in the area and Harry was able to accommodate us (getting us past the guards at the Iberostar resort!)

While we saw much of the Island on our tour, we realized we could easily spend a week here doing lots of different activities and seeing different sights. I highly recommend Harry's tour - we liked the personal attention he gave us and the flexibility of seeing what we wanted to. We would not have experienced this on a tour with a larger group (we saw some larger tour groups organized by the cruise lines)

How did this "all inclusive" resort stay compare to our past cruises?

Overall we really liked our "all inclusive" stay and we thought it was great for a 3 or 4 day get-a-way. For a 7 day trip or longer we still prefer the variety of destinations and the "at sea" days of a cruise, but an all inclusive resort is a nice alternative for shorter trips. I think an all inclusive resort fits in well with our love of cruising. Similar to what we did on this trip, we would like to go back and stay for a few days at an all inclusive resort at some areas we have briefly visited on a cruise.

In some ways we found our all inclusive stay more relaxing than a cruise. While enjoying the beach at the Melia Cozumel there was no rush to "get back to the ship" - we could stay on the beach as long as we wanted.

On a cruise alcoholic drinks and specialty restaurants often require an extra charge - at the Melia these were included in the price. Tips were also part of the whole "all inclusive" package - there was no pressure to tip extra though we did give some additional tips for our housekeeping staff and other Melia staff members who we felt gave outstanding service.

While the Melia had a show each night and "casino" night on one evening of our stay, we found the entertainment offerings of a typical cruise more varied and interesting.

Anne's take: "When we arrived in Cozumel I was impressed with how smoothly the process went at the Cozumel airport. It was modern and air conditioned unlike the Acapulco airport we experienced in December, 2004. I would not hesitate to fly into Cozumel again, however beware of the ‘Cozumel Transportation Authority'. They have a monopoly on greeting guests as they arrive. Before you can get out of the airport, they take you aside and spend time offering you tours and activities during your stay on Cozumel. They also have exclusive rights to shuttle transportation leaving the airport and you can't even get a taxi unless you walk off the airport property. The fare to our resort was almost twice what a taxi would have cost. If you are booking an all inclusive resort package to Cozumel make sure that transfers are included - then you will not have to hassle with the Cozumel Transportation Authority. From a mother's view, I would feel very comfortable taking kids to Melia Cozumel. In addition to the activities Tim listed above there is a children's play area (away from the pool and the beach) and a large family pool with a shallow end, just a few feet deep. There are activities kids could participate in as well as activities just for adults. We even saw a Fred Flintstone character walking around to entertain the kids. Although kids are welcome, families were certainly in the minority and we didn't feel the presence of kids took away from the relaxing atmosphere. I enjoy participating in water sports. I usually enjoy snorkeling. I chose not to snorkel on this trip. My impression is that snorkeling around the resort would be good but not great, as there is limited fish and underwater sites to view. Although, just standing in the ocean at times I found myself surrounded by schools of fish, so there would certainly be fish to view while snorkeling. At night you can see the lights of Riviera Maya which is across the waterway from Cozumel. If you were staying for several days a trip to one of the villages in Riviera Maya would provide the opportunity for much more scenic snorkeling and scuba opportunities. I enjoyed staying at the Melia Cozumel and would recommend it for a romantic get-away or a fun family vacation."

Summary

Anne and I really enjoyed our 3 1/2 days in Cozumel! It opened up to us a different way of vacationing (staying at an all inclusive resort) that we are looking forward to trying again!

Tim Larison