Occidental Grand Cozumel - All Inclusive

The staff is friendly and helpful. The premises are clean and the food if very good. Safety of the residents is not an issue. More staff should be available for check-in as travelers come from the airport in a full van and the check-in may take 20-30 minutes. Night entertainment could be improve.

This was our first time to go to Cozumel and It was a blast! Some of the motels and resorts that we passed by on the way to the Occidental Grand looked very questionable and I was getting a little nervous but once we got to Occidental Grand it was Amazing! The entire resort was beautiful, the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. The rooms were good size and the maids did a good job at keeping them clean. The beds were a little hard but from what I have read its like that everywhere in Cozumel. We never ran out of things to do at Occidental. We stayed for 7 days and could have been fine never leaving the motel. The shows at night were very entertaining and the activity center on the beach has numerous things to keep you busy. I would recommend Occidental Grand to anyone.

The snorkeling and beach availability was just what you look for in a Caribbean vacation.

Stayed M-F, April 14-18, 2008 - My wife and I (ages 47,36) spent our anniversary here. We don't like to hit all the site-seeing spots, so wanted a place with a super beach and good food where we could pretty much stay at the whole time and that's exactly what we got. Hotel is about 15-20 minutes from the airport by taxi ($18 for two people). There are closer hotels but if a big, clean beach is your priority you can't go wrong with this one. The hotel is a smaller property (about 250 rooms). It has about 15 or so two-story buildings with about 10-15 rooms each. The lobby and restaurants buildings are tastefully decorated but in the Mexican hacienda style. The grounds are lush with vegetation and landscaping and is very well kept. Had a Deluxe Room (basic one) with a King bed that, yes, is very firm, which is customary in Mexico. If you need soft beds, ask the management for a bed cushion or extra blankets. Staff is all very friendly. Our only major complaint was that after checkin, the hotel staff directed us to another desk without explaining why and we assumed it was part of the checkin. We talked to a guy who says he has free gifts for us and just sit down for a minute and he'll also help us make restaurant reservations, give us a coupon for half off a day's car rental, etc. We were starving and ready to make it to lunch, and would have preferred it if they would have told us this was a sales pitch and was optional. We sat there for 15 mins listening to him ramble until we realized this and finally said, are you trying to sell us a timeshare or vacation club because we're not interested. He assured us he wasn't but that was only technically true - his job was just to sign us up for the salespitch (over breakfast) and he would get a commission. In return he promised the above things, including making us reservations in the restaurants. Bottom line: avoid these sales pitches!! You can make your hotel reservations faster and easier without these guys (through front desk) and you won't spend half a day in a salespitch, which they lie to you and tell you will only take an hour and a half. We didn't do the salespitch, and did have to endure multiple hotel staff taking 5-10 mins of our time here and there trying to get us to sign up for it. One guy finally told me the deal - Occidental Grand has a vacation club (we were told $50,000) which you can supposedly use for upgraded rooms in all their other hotels. If you're just firm and polite, they'll leave you alone for the most part. I think all major hotels have this type of service and salespitch, just think they should be more up front about it in trying to get you to hear it. Other than that, we loved the hotel, the room, the food, the beach, the pools. Besides all-inclusive - all food all drinks - you have a lot of free watersports on the beach included. This includes free snorkel equipment, free kayaks, 2-person catamarans, etc. There were always beach chairs available, including ones in the shade if you wanted them. The beach faces directly west, so folks sit on the beach chairs and watch the gorgeous sunsets! Don't miss those!

The Occidental Grand is with in minutes of some of the best diving in Mexico, which as divers was one of the reasons we choose to stay there. But the staff,food and accommodations brought us back to this hotel. The conserge welcomed us back, made us feel special. The rooms were always clean and made up,the fridge was always restocked. There is adequate drawer and closet space. The bathrooms have both a shower and bath tub, and plenty of couter space. The variety and quality of food was really very good,with three specialty resturants and a buffet to choice from.

The occidental Grand was a very nice hotel. I would most likely stay there the next time I go to Cozumel. The staff was very friendly and the property was very pretty. It is set in the jungle (complete with iguanas, turtles, birds) far away from the crowded central town. The snorkeling is pretty good and most water activities you'd want to do are on the property. It's pretty close to some of the funnest places on the island (Chankanaab and Playa Mia.) I practiced my Spanish for weeks to discover that most of the staff speaks a decent amount of English. The buffets and the pizza restaurant were good but not as good as their a la carte restaurant, The Olives. Delicious! Make reservations the day you get there. The nightly entertainment was cute and the staff is enthusiastic about it.

We loved the location, great food, service and the beach! White Sand Beach!! Lots of beach chairs availble, towels right by the shower! snorkel by the beach, no worries to bring money! the staff was not expecting tips but still provided excellent service! just great! can't wait to go back again!

Our stay at the Occidental Grand Cozumel was great. The property was located on a beautiful stretch of beach on the south west end of Cozumel. The rooms were very nice, clean and comfortable. The food was very good and we had a variety of choices with 5 restaruants available. The staff was very friendly and helpful in all ways. There were many choices of activities or you could just lay on the beach if desired. The island of Cozumel is very beautiful and we explored it with the rental of a jeep that was free with a time share presentation. The resort is within 10 minutes of the gourgous and interesting Punta Sur ecological park where we snorkeled on the beautiful reef, climbed a lighthouse for a great view of the island, and saw crocodiles in the lagoons. All water sports are available directly from the Occidental pier for diving, snorkeling, fishing, parasailing, and sightseeing. I would highly recommend this resort.

We were very happy with the Occidental. The grounds are very lush and well maintained. Rooms were very spacious with oversized bathrooms and shower. The staff were very polite and always smiling. They need to staff more at the pool bar - always a lineup. The a la carte restaurants were satisfactory. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get in and out. Buffets were much more satisfying. Taxis to town and back ranged from $18 to $20 each way. Snorkelling was non existent compared to our last visit because of the high winds. Overall, our group of ten had a fantastic vacation.

This was my fourth trip to OGC, and it was great as usual. The staff is great, the facility is beautiful, and the food is great.