First posting on message board: Cozumel Mexico Forum

[Wanda]

I don't know anything to post as of this date. When my husband and daughter return from their trip on 11/16/02, I'll come back and post some feedback about the resort. It's so new, obviously no one has posted anything here or on any other message board I've found. And so far, haven't been able to find any photos of the resort.
Wanda A.

[skibumringo]

We are planning on staying at Occidental Grande during April. Any feed back would be good.

[JB]

I returned from the Occidental Grand Cozumel on Nov. 21. Great resort! It is cut out a jungle so it does not feel like the typical new resort with immature landscaping. The natural jungle is enhanced with beautiful flowers and garden areas. There is a long bridge through a mangrove swamp that connects the main hotel area to the main pool and beach area that also has a restaurant, bar, water sports center, and activities center. There is another pool closer the the hotel rooms.

The rooms are in small spread out villas each with about 20 rooms on 3 floors. As none of the rooms are ocean view there is no real difference in location. They have tile roofs so you don't have the musty smell of the palapa style roofs that are on some hotels. The rooms are average size and very nice. There are in room safes with digital codes. The bathrooms are very large with a seperate tub and shower. The showers are huge with plenty of hot water and pressure.

There were 3 ala carte restaurants - Steak, Mexican, and Mediterranean, a buffet restaurant, and a pizza restaurant. Overall the food was good. As the hotel was not very full, 35% - 40%, they rotated restaurants with one being closed each night. This presented no problem as you did not need reservations and there was no waiting for a table. There is a disco at the resort but no theater as with some of the AI resorts.

The only real drawback was the lack of a good beach. There is a ledge with a dropoff to a very narrow sandy beach area before the water. The entrance to the water is sandy so you can wade in or snorkle.

Overall I thought it was a great place. The staff was very friendly. Except for very slow check in, I thought they did a good job. I would return any time.

[S.A. Young]

I will be staying at this hotel for 4 nights......I'll let you know how things went.

[KP]

Just returned from Occidental Grand. We had a wonderful stay. The property is beautiful and the rooms are very spacious and comfortable. The housekeeping staff is top notch and everything is spotlessly clean.

The pools are a very nice - also very clean. There are daily activities at the larger pool but they are not going on constantly. The activities pool is right at the ocean so it is easy to go back and forth. The beach is very narrow but the surf is gentle there and you don't have the constant fear your children will be swept away. You can snorkel right off the beach and see a nice variety of sea life.

We took advantage of the free scuba lessons in the pool which led to a later dive at the beach and a dive at the Palancar reef ($ for dives). The dive instructors are great - very professional and this was a terrific experience. If you have ever considered learning to dive - this is the place to go for it.

I haven't mentioned the food yet because - it's hardly worth mentioning. It's fine - it's food. By about the 3rd or 4th day - it's pretty tiresome. The ala carte resteraunts are better than the buffet by far but be sure and make a reservation. The pizza place is pretty good and open late. It was our kids favorite and they ate there a number of evenings.

There's not a lot going on there at night - the disco is it and that held no appeal for us. Bring along a deck of cards or a couple of games for some quality family time in the evening.

Overall - we loved the hotel and were very pleased with this trip. As long as food is not your top priority you should have a very enjoyable stay.

[Mike from Sonoma, Calif.]

Just returned 3-25-03. I would highly recommend the "Grand". Great rooms, pool & beach are very good, food was better then expected (hard to cook for 500 people at a time).

[Shirley]

We are planning a trip to Cozumel the
first week in June; thought the Occidental looked good, but so far can't find info. on how far it is from town. Is there bus service to/from town, or shall we rent a car? How far is it to the airport, and how much shall we budget for that trip? Thanks in advance for answering my questions..

[tc]

Just returned from the Occid. Grande, had a great time, food was just ok. If you want to learn to scuba dive or are already cert. go to the national park to do so, the beach is much better and the dive is alot cheaper and we had a really good dive master to show us around the reef. Ask for Wilbreth at the first dive shop.
The pools were great, the drinks were good.