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Cozumel Trip Report
Posted by Panchita on 01/02/00

Trip Report Dec. 9-17th, 2001

El Presidente: Top Rated Hotel in Cozumel
 
Click for photos & hotel info & secured reservations online

-a-a-a-a-a-h! I'm back, and yes, it was wonderful! I don't know how beneficial this trip report is going to be from a 'did-this-did-that' prospective because, well, this time I'm ashamed to say I did a whole lot of nothing! It was great... Let's start with the hotel and go on from there:

Intercontinental El Presidente: This hotel is first-rate. We were met at the reception desk with glasses of champagne and moved over to a seat while the Concierge checked us in (I think this is one of the perks of the 6 Continent's Club but I'm not sure). When we were all checked in, she escorted us through the grounds of the hotel (which are impeccably kept), showed us where the facilities were (gym, dive shop, beach towels, salon, etc), and walked us out to our room in the North wing. We were in room 3216 - second floor, ocean view - two upgrades away from the standard run-of-house, and worth it. A large room with large vanity, bathtub and
shower, cable TV, a table and chairs with fruit basket (bananas, apples, pears, kiwi, plums - fresh every day), and a large balcony, also with table and chairs, and a killer ocean view. The safety deposit box was at the front desk, but we didn't find this to be a problem - they are open from 7am to midnight.

Service at this hotel cannot be beat. Everyone from the manager and the front desk staff to the waiters and the beach service to the maids and the gardeners was friendly, smiling, helpful and considerate - and very genuine about their desire to assist you in any way. We were charmed and delighted by this treatment. Some examples of the employees going above and beyond the call of duty are: 1. I brought down a crate filled with 100 pounds of med. supplies for the Humane Society that I needed to keep at the hotel until arrangements could be made for it to be picked up. On my second day there, one of the gentlemen working at the front desk approached me when I was finished visiting the safety deposit box and told me that the Humane Society had taken care of his pets on occasion and, if I trusted him to do so, he would be happy to drop off the supplies on his day off. Example 2: Another guest at the hotel lost her diamond earring on the beach and didn't realize it until several hours later. Employees were out with lamps and rakes, raking the sand until the earring was found and returned. Example 3. Power outage one night - lasted about 30 minutes - it didn't affect us much, we
just lit the big in-room candles, but in 10 minutes there was a knock at the door and an employee was there with a large lamp to make sure that we were okay.

The rooms are very nice - like I've said before, they are not fancy, ornamental or lavish, but the beds are comfortable, the air conditioner is quiet, the shower is hot, and I didn't feel like I couldn't get sand on the floor - it's the perfect beach resort. We had robes and slippers in our
closet - my friend Deb really wanted to keep hers but we managed to get out without indulging in any petty theft! Considering that most of it is man-made, the beach is fabulous. In the center between the restaurant and the dive shop, is a shallow, sloping, sandy section that allows one to walk in without running into coral or drop-offs. On either side, there are long sandy sections built up over the iron shore - there are piers with ladders at the ends for easy access into the water. The snorkeling is to die for - red fish, blue fish, yellow fish, rainbow fish, spots and strips and every combination imaginable - they are so used to people looking at them that you can get very, very close (but don't touch!). A couple of times when I was taking pictures, I had to back up and come back in because I got too close ("and this is, well, a picture of a fish part...").

Okay, now lets talk about some fun stuff - my friends Ron and Marian from Atlanta checked in the same day that I did, and it was real nice to spend some time with them again - we met last February at the Fiesta Americana. My friend Deb who came with me had never done any snorkeling before - actually, she's never done a beach vacation at all before, so watching her get hooked (and hooked she is!) was loads of fun. We flew over to Chichen Itza on Aero F_???___ - left at 7:15am, returned by 2pm - it was great! I did a resort dive at the hotel - I had originally planned on going to Papa Hoggs and doing this with Margaret, but Donna chickened out (give her a break, she never even snorkeled before last week), so I just went out with one of the instructors at the hotel. He was very good and very patient with me, I felt completely comfortable by the time we started swimming - and it was pretty impressive stuff just 30 feet from shore! I like this diving stuff... hmmmm...

We spent some time at Mini Golf, had a nice talk with Sally and Sunshine, and played a round (I won! Waa Hoo!), we got to see the owls that are nesting on top of the water tower, that was pretty cool - the course has grown so much since I was there in February - everything is lush and green and beautiful. Sally makes a mean Sangria too! I finally got to meet Stephanie and see Hacienda San Miguel - my friend Carolyn, who was supposed to come in on Wednesday and didn't show up until Thursday afternoon, was going to stay at H.S.M. after I left on Saturday and then leave on Tuesday, but I ended up staying an extra day, and she had to leave on Monday (is everyone confused now), so she decided to just stay at the Presidente for the extra night instead of moving everything just to pack up the next morning. Stephanie is a cute and fun as you all suspect, and we had a nice chat - she showed us her wedding pictures - what a nice looking couple! In any event, H.S.M. is darling, lots of little personal touches that you don't find in larger hotels - very comfy and nice. On Thursday, Deb and Ron and Marian flew out and Carolyn flew in (tag-team vacation...), so I got to start all over again with the intro to Cozumel. Carolyn arranged for a massage through the front desk, and the masseuse turned out to be my friend Heidi, who works with the Humane Society. I never knew she did massage in addition to being an R.N. - it's sometimes a very
small world! Anyway, Carolyn and I took a drive ($40 VW from the hotel rent-a-car desk) over to Chen Rio for a late lunch on Friday and beach-combed a little. There was a lot less trash around than I've seen in previous trips, and there were maybe 4 other people there, so it was very nice.

I ate like a Queen the entire trip - La Choza (more than once - can't get enough of those fajitas, and THAT salsa - what's in that stuff anyway?), El Guacamayo (thanks for the recommendation Richard - the stuffed snapper in white sauce was great!), La Prima (I had the heart attack special - shrimp stuffed with crab meat au gratin and fettuccini alfredo - I could feel my left arm going numb and my heart start to palpitate), we actually fought over whether it was better than the shrimp and fresh pasta with red pepper cream sauce or the grilled grouper with pesto pasta - mine really was better... We all agreed that the amaretto tiramisu was beyond compare. The French Quarter (thank you Sally!) was also a memorable meal - any place that starts you off with hot hush puppies is bound to be good. The mushroom caps stuffed with crab and deep-fried were to-die-for, and the blue cheese salad was darned good too. I had blackened snapper that made me weep (it was that good), and Mike, the owner, insisted that we finish up with the crème brule - need I say more? I didn't forget to do the coffee taste test - Rock and Java with a yummy banana muffin for our Chichen Itza plane ride, and the Museum for breakfast another morning - who was it that recommended those divorced eggs any way? They were scrumdidilyicious! Any way, I just can't decide which coffee was better - I'm going to have to try that again... 

Memorable moments:
The sand castle we all built one afternoon - three feet tall with a ball court - we were inspired!
Watching everyone trying to eat and slap mosquitoes at the same time one night at dinner - where's that cactus juice? Hard to imagine chewing, slapping, laughing and bleeding all at the same time. Trying to learn how to say 'refrigerator' in Spanish and watching the staff at Chen Rio roll on the floor laughing every time we thought we had it right. Listening to Deb laughing through her snorkel when the fish were being fed around her and squealing when she got nipped - I wish I had a recording! Watching Carolyn play backgammon with the older gentlemen in the square on Saturday night - she needed doubles to win, so she blew on the dice and what do you think happened? All the kids followed her for blocks afterwards. Feeding the Grackles out of my hand - they finally figured that it was the only way they were going to get anything from me and got quite friendly. Diving down to the bottom to pick up the mysterious item eagle-eye snorkeler Deb spotted that still had the price tag stuck on it, and finding out that someone ditched his or her brand new pipe ten feet off shore in 8 feet ofwater! ;7) Finding out that neither the hotel or Continental airlines had a problem with me extending my stay by just one more day... Lined up in a row on the shore, watching yet another perfect Cozumel sunset with good friends, and knowing I'll be back! Thanks to everyone for the advice, tips, tricks and opinions - you've collectively made my vacations that much better. Happy Holidays to you all.