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Comments:
I recently stayed at the El Cid La Ceiba and I was very disappointed.  It is not anywhere near Gold Crown Quality.  Even the Fairfield salespeople admitted that this is a 2 star hotel at best.  The only reason it is Gold Crown is because El Cid took it over and their other resorts are Gold Crown.  Fairfield salespeople admitted that they don't plan to do any major remodeling since they are dedicating their profits to building a new resort on the Mayan Riviera.  The grounds, the units, the food, the service were all substandard.  The only thing that makes this site worthwhile is the diving.

First of all, you're lucky if you get the room you were promised.  We met a group of four that reserved a 1 bedroom but were stuffed into a studio unit.

The rooms are not maintained well and most everything did not work.  We had to call maintenance on a daily basis for things such as the A/C not working properly, lamp bulbs needing to be replaced, resetting the circuit because it blew every time we used the microwave, etc.  The beds are hard as most are in Mexico but you can't sleep anyway.  The walls are thin and you can hear the maintenance people talking all night.  Worse yet, the doors need to be slammed in order to be shut so you hear slamming doors all night long.  This makes for a very unrelaxing time. The interesting thing is that when you ask to change rooms, they admit they put you into a noisy room knowing that there were people in the rooms around you. 

If you are a timeshare owner with "VIP" (that's never gotten us any thing so far), you can't get an automatic upgrade.  They will keep giving you the run around and ask you to check back daily until you realize they'll tell you that until you leave.  However if you are willing to pay extra, reservations suddenly seem to have the time share rooms available.   The bottom line is that we found the service to profess themselves to be great however when it came down to action, nothing happened.  There was no hospitality either.  Most people at the desk would just stare are you and one night, Jorge was too busy buying watches from a vendor that came off the street to even acknowledge my assistance.  It took me several minutes before I got someone else to help me out. 

I didn't like the fact that the concierge was in on the timeshare scheme.  Most were not helpful although we asked them for assistance on several occasions.  They seemed more interested in getting you to go to a talk in order to get up to 50% in discounts on prices that had been marked up by 50%.  We found that by purchasing tickets to attractions, they take a 20% service charge and you'll find you can get stuff cheaper if you go directly to the site. 

I definitely plan to go back to cozumel but I will not stay at La Ceiba again.  Do yourself a favor and find another place.  You won't get a relaxing vacation here.

Comments:    Spent a week at La Ceiba mid Feb. as a guest of a Fun Club timeshare owner.  Fun Club reservations were not what was promised, but we did receive satisfactory rooms at a reasonable price.    The hotel was attractive, clean and well-staffed with hard-working,
friendly people.  Our room (215) was nothing to write home about, but was adequate.  On the positive side, the lovely bathroom has a huge tub, great for rinsing dive gear,and the bath towels are big & thick.  Color satellite TV, phone, hairdryer, coffeemaker & small fridge were welcome amenities.  The balcony (view of cruiseships blocked by a palm tree) was small but sufficient for hanging wet gear, which was all we used it for. The A/C worked fine, but was too noisy to run @ night when the ceiling fan fortunately kept us cool enough.  The beds were harder than we cared for, with very firm foam pillows.  The few tiny insects, apparently controlled by insecticide, (which we could smell the 1st couple of days) were not a problem.
   They didn't want you to use the stairs, but after one party was trapped inside for a brief time (not counting when the power went out one evening) we used them anyway.
   We didn't really use the pools except the hot tub (you needed to request that it be turned on).  Big, thick towels are available at the front desk.  The 'beach' area was lovely, with lounges, & hammocks that were swarming with cruise ship folks on Tues.-Wed. so we didn't get to use them often, either.  You can dive or snorkel in front of the hotel or play in the surf on the south side.
   Our one meal (lunch) at the La Chopa restaurant was pretty good, but pricey. I recommend paying in pesos at the bar & restaurant as the exchange rate they offer is not up to par.    Aside from the proximity to the cruise ship pier, (the ships block any view of the sunset from the lower floors) the location is convenient with several shops, car rental and Ernesto's close by.

Comments: Comments: Just got back from Cozumel, where we'd booked 14 nights at La Ceiba.  We left after only 7 nights.  We'll never go back.  Here's why... The food was not very good and the service in the restaurant was very slow.  The beach, if you could call it a beach, was overrun with cruise ship passengers and crew members.  The additiional cruise ships accommodated by the new piers makes for a constant stream of taxis in front of the hotel and a constant noise from about 5am when they pulled in to 11pm when they left.  It was noisy and smelly with all the cars and traffic.  The maid service was next to non existent, I had to looking for toilet paper.  The time-share people were right there to harass us the first day we were there.  (Not that this is any different at any other hotel or at any corner in town).  We moved to the Reef Club and had a fantastic second week.

Comments: Returned from Cozumel on November 16. Just depends what you want in a vacation, whether you would like La Ceiba or not. If you are looking for a nice quiet beachfront vacation, you would probably not want to stay here. If you want a clean, comfortable, place to stay that is fairly close to downtown, and are divers or snorkelers then you will probably love the place. We did stay on the beach 1 day and found very few cruise people there. Because we kept turning down their offers of looking at the timeshares for sale, they also gave us a free sunset cruise, which was very nice. All in all a very nice and friendly place!   To respond to all of the taxi and road noise and smell, I don't know why you would be out there any way. All of the action is on the beach side away from the traffic.

Comments: Just got back from Cozumel, where we'd booked 8 nights at La Ceiba.  We have stayed there numerous times over the last 10 years (5 times, I think), but we left after only 3 nights.  We'll never go back.  Here's why... The food was not very good, the beach was overrun with cruise ship passengers and crew members, there was a lot of construction going on at the hotel (La Chopa Loca, the restuarant, was closed as they were re-doing the palapa roof and the hammock stand was closed for the same reason), the elevators were constantly breaking down and we were actually trapped in one of them for 5 minutes), the additiional cruise ships accommodated by the new piers makes for a constant stream of taxis in front of the hotel.  It was noisy and smelly with all the cars and traffic.  I understand that the hotel has to do upgrades, but La Ceiba simply isn't the quiet, peaceful hotel it once was beofre the cruise ships took over that area of the southern hotel zone.  We moved to
  a hotel on the northern end and had a wonderful, quiet, peaceful rest of our vacation.  If I could tell La Ceiba one thing that would make a big difference, it would be to stop allowing cruise ship passengers to use the hotel as a "day beach."  They were loud and obnoxious all three days we experienced them.  Real partiers, I suppose.  Adios, La Ceiba.

Comments: We stayed at La Ceiba for four days (8/31-9/4). For what we paid ($50 per night through Expedia.com), it was an excellent value. We were approached by the concierge (time share sales) upon check in, but declined an appointment, and weren't bothered after that. Room was excellent, being on the top floor on the corner. Ran A/C continuously, but it kept up. The food in the restaurants was OK, but nothing to write home about. We mostly ate out anyway. I was a little worried about the hotel being overrun by cruise ship passengers after reading previous reviews, but it simply didn't happen. The pool and bar area was never crowded at all. This was a dive trip, but we didn't use the hotels dive shop (Del Mar). I did notice, however that when they unloaded from an afternoon trip, that 26 people were on board (plus crew). All in all, I wouldn't hesitate staying there again.

Posted by Don on 06/29/02

Have been to LaCeiba 10 days each of the past 5
Febs. Last time is our last time. Owners are pushing time shares heavily. Staff was very non-
caring. On checking out , they tried to charge us with a $350 food & bev bill. Problem was they only had the receipts for the $60 we actually
spent. Check out other places.

Posted by echo on 06/27/02

Bill, I've not been there since October last fall, but what I've heard is that the staff is pretty much the same, and it's still a great place. The rooms in the old section were being turned into suites while I was there, which is disappointing, but the tower rooms were great. The lobby had gotten a minor facelift & looked a lot brighter. The only complaint I've heard is that they're letting too many cruise ship people use the beach during the day.

Comments: Stayed here in March 2002, with kind of low expectations due to comments we'd heard regarding cruise ship people over-runnning the property and the time share salespeople making their pitches.  We were pleasantly surprised with this property.  It wasn't grand and glorious - nothing really flashy - but it was very nice.  Upon our arrival, we were invited to hear the time share pitch (could receive discounts on car rentals and the like if we attended), and received one other invite to a cocktail party to hear about the time share offerings.  We declined both and were never pressured into attendance.  The room was very nice, with the best shower we have ever experienced in any hotel.  The beds were comfortable - kind of hard, but we like them that way.  The air conditioning was adequate, but I would have preferred a little more cooling power.  Really needed A/C as we never got much of a breeze in the doorwall. Had a nice balcony overlooking the pool/beach area (and unfortunately also the cruise ship pier), although it would have been nice if they had tables and chairs on the balcony.  If the cruise pier is full, you won't see the sunset, but you can always view it from Dzul-ha or one of the other southern beach areas.  The pools are okay - nothing fancy, just basic rectangular pools.  A very nice sandy beach area with plenty of lounge chairs under palm trees or palapas.  You can enter the water in a couple of different areas, and the snorkeling out front is terrific.  The sunken plane is easily accessible.  We only ate one meal in the La Chopa restaurant on the day we arrived, and that was basically just appetizers.  Food was very good.  The people from the cruise ship are allowed to pay to use the property, and while there were quite a few of them taking advantage of this, we rarely had a problem finding a place to sit.  However, we were not always on the property during the afternoon hours, so can't really say what it was like every day.

Posted by Angela on 02/18/02

I've stayed at La Ceiba three times and will always recommend it!!!  The shore diving/snorkeling - right off the hotel - is incredible with the plane wreck just yards out - and the roped-in area is the best possible spot for beginner snorkelers/divers or people who want to open up this experience to
their kids in a safe environment.  And the dive shop couldn't be more convenient.  I have not one complaint for La Ceiba, but I would like to point out for honeymooners or "beach-only" people:  The beach is limited...this isn't the place to lounge around, waiting for umbrella drinks as you leisurely walk into the ocean, letting the little waves ripple around you.  Rather, the beach is slightly rocky - best meant for scenery, diving and snorkeling.  They do, indeed, have a sandy beach - it just doesn't run right into the ocean...there's a paved walkway between the sand and the ocean water.  But aside from that, La Ceiba is perfect for the price.  The staff couldn't be more friendly, and the hotel is conveniently located near a quite a few shops/local market stands.  Who cares about the "hard beds" or quality of the water I read about in nearly every hotel review...we don't go to Cozumel to rate bed softness or drink ice water!  We go there for the ocean, the people, the atmosphere and the experience as a whole, all of which La Ceiba has - and it's fabulous!!!  Te amo, La Ceiba!!!  -Angela in Dallas

Posted by R&R on 02/01/02

there is a nice large roped off area for snorkeling and it has a good assortment of fish and coral.  You can see almost anything there.  Just outside the roped off area, is an airplane put there for a Mexican movie 20 years ago.  Several hurricanes since have broken it apart and flipped it over.  It is the home of tons of fish and coral and sponges.  Be careful going outside of the ropes but you should really check it out.  Here is one shot of the main part of the body which is at around 35' depth.

robin

Posted by Joyce on 02/01/02

Hi,
My husband, son and I have stayed at the La Ceiba 3 times. We are from Minnesota, and it came recommended. We wanted to be on the beach. It is nice. We requested and got an ocean front room. That means that we could get right out to the beach from our sliding glass door that locked. It is a nice place, hot watet, good towels, helpful staff. But, the people off of the cruise ships came and took all the beach chairs and it isn't easy getting in and out of the water. Most of the coral is broken and dead and the airplane they are always talking about isn't much too see any more. It is nicer than Casa Del Mar, it's sister property, and is closer to town than some other hotels.
We are leaving for Cozumel on the 4th and we are going to stay at the Coral Princess. It is a little more expensive and north of town. (The dive boats don't want to come and get you up there) It is nicer for the little extra money.
Good luck, have fun.
Joyce

Posted by Dee on 01/30/02

Hotel El Cid La Ceiba used to be our favorite....+

The section that they tore up and made into time share units was the old original part of the hotel. Any of the last 3 rooms were our home away from home...close to the dock yet away from the main hotel so it was very quiet and no cruisers to bother you.

All that has changed now. I was there in September and hated it. The cruisers had the run of the place, filling the restaurant to capacity and making it necessary to leave the premises for lunch in order to make the afternoon boat times.

The tower is at the opposite end of the premises. If you keep your gear in your room as I do, you have to walk across several slick rock walkways carrying/wearing your gear. Not to mention dodging other guests and kids around the pool. Unless they have done something about the gear storage area, it's not very secure...that's why I don't leave anything there.

The staff is still very good and we've never had any problems leaving valuables in our room. Breakfast in the 2nd floor restaurant is always very good. But the food in the pool-side (main) restaurant is just so-so and high priced...they've also raised their prices!

I won't stay there again. It's just not worth the hassle. We can still shore dive on the plane wreck if we want but we'll be staying somewhere else.

Dee

Posted by tom on 01/16/02

La Ceiba is good...+ looong walk to town though. Short taxi ride, maybe $5.00. Good snorkeling and shore dives on the plane.
Iberostar brings another problem. If you don't dive with the house shop, you might miss some reefs because your too far south.
tom  

Posted by Terri on 11/05/01

I've stayed there 10 times or so and I think it is a great place for the price.  Nothing too fancy, but clean and the staff is great.  I think Mary Kay must be confusing this place with another.  The Casa Del Mar is about two miles south of town - not in the middle of town.  It is a "divers" hotel so there really is not much noise.  We all hit the sack pretty early around there.

My second trip to Cozumel we stayed at the Casa del Mar.  I thought it was a great place for the money.  I didn't notice the noise, so I can't complain about that.  

I've heard really good things about Sol Cabanas, and it has a nice location.  I think that's where I'd go of the places you named.

Posted by Carl on 03/24/01

I have stayed there and we enjoyed it very much, except for the !@* hard beds but that is everywhere. There is a very nice tennis court surrouned by a garden. Ask for a room on the first floor near the dive shop the tennis court will be at your front door and the beach will be at your back door. You may have to slide the front desk clerk 10 bucks if he tells you they are all booked. I gave him 10 bucks and he found us a nice room on the beach. Have fun.

Fins Up

Posted by Sandra on 11/01/00

I was there in June and it's still a great place to stay.  Have been staying there the past 6 years and will continue.  Have fun.

They had the whole Tower area closed for remodeling. Didn't effect us because we always stay in the original section, down by the dive shop.

The hotel was very good as usual, rates very reasonable. When you call/write, be sure to ask about any specials...sometimes you can get free breakfasts...it doesn't hurt to ask.

LaCeiba - http://www.cozumel-hotels.net/la_ceiba/

Dee

i was just there in june and it is still a good place. i think the rates are 80.00 a night not per person. pretty reasonable. looka arround and you can get packages for room and meal dredits.
Rob

Posted by Laurie R. on 10/16/00

Was in Coz last week and was in the LaCeiba area quite a bit.  The LaCeiba is right by the international cruise ship pier so there is a little shopping/hotel/restaurant area right there. Across the street is a souvenir shopping center, next door is Budget and Avis rental, just up the street is a new internet cafe, and our favorite lunch place - Ernestos - is across the street.  I was there a lot because we chose to use "Dive with Martin".  Martin is constructing his new dive shop right there at the waters edge.  So if you decide you do not want to go out on a cattle boat you can go with Martin.  They usually have no more than 6-8 people per boat.  They also have a GREAT instructor named Kelly who does great checkout/refresher dives right off the beach there if you want to.  I've been diving a while but had never done drift diving and had some new equipment I wanted to test before hitting the open ocean and I am so glad I went out with her!  We worked out the kinks in my equipment (as well as my back) before I hit the ocean.  And be sure to do a shore dive from the hotel to check out the submerged airplane and the fun things that inhabit it!  I think you will have a great time no matter where you stay - but LaCeiba is convenient for downtown and for relaxing.

We were there a couple years ago, it's a good hotel and my only complaint is that the AC units were loud.  Bring ear plugs just in case.  Make sure you snorkel once right in front of the restaurant, lots of fish hang out there waiting for scraps.  The restaurant has different specials each night, the all you can eat bbq grill was good.

Hello,
I have never stayed at La Cieba, however a friend of mine has stayed there the last 2 years and said it was nice. Nothing too fancy but very nice. The part they liked best is that they can have good snorkeling right off the front of their hotel. Hope you have a great time. Our family is thinking of going to Cozumel in February.

Posted by Ken Coman on March 7, 2000

I've stayed at the La Ceiba five times and once at Americana, so I'll give you my two cents worth. The La Ceiba is a little more convenient, closer to town with some other shops stores close.  The rooms at Americana are nicer and it was more quiet.  The La Ceiba can be noisy as the cruise ships dock next door.  The La Ceiba also allowed cruisers to use facilities for a price so it could be a little crowded depending on the time of year. The food at La Ceiba, at least breakfast was better and more reasonable.  The pool and beach area are better at the Americana.  We dove with Delmar at La Ceiba and Dive House at Americana and both were fine.  I take pictures and normally stay on top of the reef so being with a group usually doesn't bother me.  The divemasters vary wth some being good and others not so good.  If you are looking to do some advanced diving then a small operator is better.

Ken

Posted by Davida on October 03, 1999

I've never stayed at the others you mentioned. We've tried 3-4 hotels in Coz and always come back to LC. There's too many hotels there to try them all...we like La Ceiba and will stick with it! The rooms are very nice, a/c works well, the beds are comfortable, never turn on the TV and the fridge is really nice for our bottled water. We usually only eat breakfast there but the restaurant is nice. The photo shop in front of the hotel is real handy. We are divers and like the close proximity to the dock and the shore diving. We don't care for the dive operation at the hotel and always use Caballito del Caribe. Any dive op will pick you up at the dock. The cruise ships are the only bad thing I can say about LC. But since we spend most of our time underwater during the day, the cruisers are usually gone by the time we get back to our rooms. We've never had a bad experience at LC and will continue to recommend it.

HTH
Dee

Posted by Thorsten on October 03, 1999

La Ceiba has an excellent and super friendly staff. A good restaurant, nice pools.
Large rooms with unlimited hot water . Cold air. Fridge in the room and ice on the gangway.
And the scuba diving in front is prolly the best shore diving on the island.
Yes it has Cruise ships parking in front on the pier. And Cruise ship people will " invade" the beach and pool. To me that was more attraction than distraction, though. Its interesting to watch.
hahah

Read my trip report for the hotel and places to eat http://www.omegabbs.com/users/gorace.

Have a great time
Thorsten

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