ORIGINAL MESSAGE / QUESTION / TRIP REPORT:

A Great review to Combat so many negative reviews Posted By G-McD on 06-28-2004 5:26:57pm So many negative reviews.....so different from our recent stay!!! Please excuse the length, but I was trying to address all the negativities! To start my review, I thought it would be good to give you an idea of the places my wife and I have stayed previously, giving you all an idea of what we are accustomed to. I don’t work for Hyatt, but my wife and I have found a certain fondness for the quality we find in their hotels. Most recently, my wife and I enjoyed our honeymoon at the Hyatt Regency 5 star resort in Maui (Hawaii). We have also recently enjoyed a suite in the Hyatt in San Diego, a casita suite at the Grand Hyatt in Tampa, and a very extravagant 3-room suite at the Hyatt Hill Country resort in Texas. Also worth mentioning, I have stayed at the Hyatt resorts in both the Cayman Islands and the Hyatt at St. John (although I don’t believe they own that property anymore). I only mention this, as this is a good indication of expectations my wife and I have when visiting resorts/hotels. I believe our standards are relatively high, however after reading the terrible reviews of the Reef Club on the internet, we quickly began to prepare ourselves for Motel 6 in slums. LOL. To say the Reef Club measures to the above mentioned hotels would be crazy as well, and I do not mean to give anyone that impression! I will say, my wife and I were thoroughly pleased with our 5 night stay at the Reef Club in Cozumel (June 20, 2004 – June 25, 2004). No, it is no Hyatt Hawaiian resort, but is no dump…not even close! The property was very clean, the lobby very tidy, and the grounds of the hotel seemed to be well groomed (and this is after a week long rain storm just prior to our arrival that apparently caused a great deal of havoc for the hotel). The main pool was unfortunately shut down for a few days – but that was a result of major flooding from the rain storm that the Reef Club could not have prevented if they tried to. We had a standard room, nothing fancy, and no fancy view at all – we were there for the island, not a hotel room with a view! The room was clean without a doubt, no troubles there. Our maid was very friendly, bending over backwards for us it! I’m sure everyone has read the beds are hard….most definitely they are. But….nothing I have never felt before, it was NOT a brick. But guys….this is Mexico (you may hear me say this a lot)….there is nothing but a hard bed on the island from what I understand! No alarm clock, but no big deal. AC worked incredibly – our room was flat out frigid…and this isn’t central AC! When you first get there, the room will be a little warm – they turn the AC way up when the room is not in use. The water in our room was clean and clear – still wouldn’t trust it (Mexico =>). Hot water in the shower was there with the exception of one day, but boy that shower felt good after a long day at the beach! Speaking of the beach….FANTASTIC! Very big! PLENTY of chairs! I have read where people had issues with chairs, either we were there on a very off time (late June?), or they have acquired many more chairs! Even if you arrived on the beach at 1:00 pm, you probably won’t have any trouble getting yourself a good set of beach chairs, and you can probably find a shade tree at that! No problem!!! Water was crystal clear – but that’s without saying, this is the Caribbean. Good snorkeling off the beach – but YOU MUST get a ride on a snorkeling boat to see the REEF!!! Unbelievable, I thought I had seen a lot at Cayman, Hawaii and St. John….but I hadn’t seen anything. The hotel staff continuously walked around asking if anyone needed a drink. And there were always staff members looking to strike up a game of beach volleyball to keep the guests entertained. Just a few steps down the beach and you will find kayaks, wind surfers, and jet skis you can rent. In the other direction, a good walk down the beach is a dock where the Manta sport sailboat parks (snorkeling tours), and other fishing and scuba boats. Easy access! The food. No question, those other resorts I mention have extreme restaurants in another league from the food you will find at the Reef Club. HOWEVER….this is not dog food! My wife and I enjoyed freshly prepared omelets made to order every single morning! The eggs were cracked in front of us, it doesn’t get any cleaner! That same restaurant does lunch and dinner also. The food on the buffet was not “to die for”, but it was certainly doable! I really can’t see it as terrible, and our experiences at hotel restaurants raises the bar pretty darn high. Did it meet the bar, no, but was it “ok”….SURE! The other two restaurants were WORLDS above this main one. Dinner only, but it’s a 5 course meal, and we both LOVED the food and smiling service!! Flys. Yes….COZUMEL (not just Reef Club) has a bit of a fly problem. They aren’t on the beach, but in open air restaurants – all over the island, you may have to swat a bit! We found that everywhere we went. This is not a Reef club problem, although their main restaurant – being open air, does suffer from this. Again, this is Mexico, and this is a small problem Cozumel has and it is nothing that should ruin anyone’s vacation! If it does – then those individuals should stay away from any adventurous destinations! The Staff. We found the staff to be very very nice! CONSTANTLY trying to get people to participate in numerous activities! Volleyball, water aerobics, and shows every single night we were there! Some were quite entertaining, while others were a little….eeeeehhhh. Some shows by the pool involved the guests, and got a great deal of laughter from everyone who gathered around. Front desk staff was pleasant, plenty of people to help with car reservations (on sight) as well as making reservations for any kind of activity Cozumel has to offer. Drinks. Whats an all-inclusive stay without sampling (on numerous occasions) the beverages! Beer was great and plentiful. Mixed drinks were just as good. Always enough alcohol…there were some we thought were a little strong (and we are avid happy hour goers at home)! Any drink you can imagine, they can make! We had no issues with time share sellers – and had no interest to sit through their presentations. Our biggest time share hassle was probably right after we got off the airplane!!! LOL Not sure what else to say, but that we loved our stay at the Reef Club. We were expecting the worst…and that probably helped us. If you have a trip planned – READ all those negative reviews! It helped us see all the good that the Reef Club had to offer that many angry people find a way to leave out of their reviews. Its by no means in the same league as the other hotels I mentioned up top – and that’s not their goal anyway, but it was certainly a very pleasant and enjoyable stay – spent mostly right there on their property! THANK YOU REEF CLUB!

Re: A Great review to Combat so many negative reviews - Mike Posted on: 04-03-2006 2:08:15pm I agree with everything that is above. I had stayed at the Reef Club on six or seven different trips. I hear my fellow Americans complaining about this or that... But like was said above you are not staying at a five star hotel. The costs are reasonable, the service is great, the place is clean, the food is not great but certainly edibal. I have never had a problem with anything during any of my stays.

(I Agree) Re: A Great review to Combat so many negative reviews - Neal Whitley Posted on: 07-05-2004 1:16:34pm I agree very much with this review. I have stayed at the Reef Club and had a good experience as well. Sometimes I think the Reef Club gets a bad rap from people who's expectations are out of line with reality. I tend to think this is because of the travel agents and tour companies over hyping the property. Other times I think the Reef Club does drop the ball a "little bit" but not totally. The Reef Club is what it is... A reasonably priced all inclusive. It's not the nicest and it's not the worst (or even close). Personally I like the Iberostar. Because it's nice and it's 5 or 10 minutes to most of the dive sites. However I would stay at the Reef Club again any time. The food is average but good, sometimes very good. HEY...don't go to an all inclusive resort for fine dining people. You will be disappointed. To a certain extent the whole point in all inclusive resorts is to provide a value based vacation experience. However, there are some sacrifices like food. Beds ... hard. They are hard all over the Caribbean unless you are paying $500 a night. Most nights I am so damn tired from diving all day I could fall asleep on the floor. A/C got my room quite cold. Flies and pesky birds ... yes. As mentioned above the dining areas are all open air, which I like. So the flies and the crazy birds sometimes pay a visit. Most of the "general" dining areas at the all inclusive resorts are open air. The Iberostar uses nets to cover the windows/walk ways so it keeps the birds out but not flies. My only advice is to take it with a grain of salt. You are in the tropics so there will be bugs. Don't let it ruin your vacation. Also, on "average" levels of service in Mexico and the Caribbean are not quite the same as here in the States. Now, I don't expect great service but if I get I tip well. But I also don't expect super crappy service either...this is bad bad bad. Expect average service going in. If it's better great. If not your drop in satisfaction will be more palatable. I read these bad reviews sometimes and I think "some" of these people are never pleased. They will usually always have something negative to say. Now it's impossible to please 100% of ones clients 100% of the time. It's a goal to strive for but usually not reality. Some people do have bad experience's at all resorts. When someone calmly and clearly states there grievances I tend to belive them more then the yellers and screamers. Also, I tend to believe the reviews when they not only highlight there grievances but some of the positive things they experienced as well. "Most" of the time I find hard to believe that "everything" was bad. Neal neal @e-travelmedia.com Special hotel and travel deals by TravelNow & CaribbeanMag.com Check rates and compare. Save up to 60%.