After a week in Cozumel (in a 2 bedroom unit with kitchenette) we were met with the luxury of a fresh white sheeted beds you don't want to crawl out of, a luxuriously decorated properly air conditioned lobby, at-your-service attention, a concierge to book dinners each evening is just the tip of the enjoyment! We arrived hot and sticky like sardines falling out a car. We were met with a few stares from guests, but the staff went out of their way to help us regain our dignity and composure.
We spent a total of 6 nights at the Ritz. The service was very nice, although a few times we needed to ask for refills for coffee or conditioner/shampoo. And on several occasions were disturbed for room cleaning, although they gladly came back later when we were gone. Clearly, the golden keys concierge service is their specialty. I felt their poolside attendants were lacking the typical RC level of attention.
We took the car boat from Cozumel at 6 am and spent the day travelling to and from Chichen Itza. This was a very hot escapade, but an educational MUST for kids of all ages.
The RC welcomed us to beautiful blue striped water views from our own balcony from each room. (All rooms appear to have some water view.) Only one downside, get up early to grab your seats by the pool. By 10 am, our bathers were unable to find seats even though noone was at the pool. There three pools. One smaller pool which was in shade much of the day was on the north side. The larger, busier pool was connected by a wall to a smaller pool. This made it difficult to keep an eye on active kids, but provided different swimming experiences. A shallow shelf on the busy pool, provided toddlers a safe play place and grandparents a place to relax while keeping cool. The shelf however, does fall to 3 feet with no boundary, so you need to be with young children unlike kiddie pools where you can sit beside it.
Club rooms are on the 8th and 9th floors and require a key for the elevator. The restaurants on the hotel zone make this service nearly unnecessary. Unless you have money to burn or simply don't plan to leave the floor, this is an unnecessary commodity.
On one evening there was a Mayan Indian fire ritual with photo opps. Most days they offered hair braiding for $55. And some sort of kids activity for hire. And the babysitters were well marked and seemed VERY attentive to their children's needs. Umbrella and Float rentals were available, though we opted out. cabanas on the beach can be rented for the day for $125. At night, these are converted to dinner tables by the sea with netting and candles and are lovely to see aglow from the rooms.
Rooms include a modern italian coffee and espresso machine. We had two rooms so could borrow sugar and coffeemate, but still had to request refills one day. We noted most rooms drank coffee in the mornings on the balconies in various levels of dress. At night, I was surprised to see the glow of several laptops on neighboring balconies as well.
Drinking water at the resort seemed unnecessarily expensive; a quart bottle was $9.50 in the room, but turn-down service provided a complimentary personal size bottle each night which we refilled with the gallon bottle we purchased at a local shop for $2. Btw, the same quart bottle, ordered beach/poolside was delivered on ice for $6. Existentially speaking, much more satisfying. Local shops sold boxes of 8 cans of beer for $3.50, so we never utilized the mini bar. The frozen drinks pool/beachside run $7. And food was reasonable for lunch on the go. I think we spent $22 for two for lunch appies at the pool.
The breakfast room offered an extraordinary buffet, free coffee and takeaway containers for muffins for road trip days. We didn't have the pleasure of eating on-site, but the concierge set up our reservations for dinners at restaurants in walking distance. With 4 kids age 9 to 24, this became the focus of each day. We ate at:
Puerto Madero - twice
Hacienda Sisal
Harry's Steak house
The Chocolate Factory
Most meals for 6 of us ran between $150 and 200. a night. We enjoyed all but Hacienda Sisal.
We also ordered from:
Pizza Hut
Domino's
Mexican street side restaurant in Cancun
We went to WetnWild for the Sunday special - $20 for the 10 to 5pm day and all you can eat or drink including mixed drinks and beer. The regular price is >$50 for the day pp without food/drink. THIS IS an outstanding way to spend a fun day for the kids.
We normally make purchases for junk and snacks outside the hotels, but found only one place near the entrance to the hotel. Their muffins were not as good as the RC's, though cheaper. We did find a breakfast place past the town center for 35 pesos (the exchange was 10.8 pesos to the US $), but anything within walking distance was hit or miss.
TripAdvisor has free and easy resources to help you enhance your listing and promote your property.
- Start Here - Visit Your Owners' Center
- Add Photo
- Add Video