We're here in Cozumel right now, having a FABULOUSLY wonderful time diving with BlueXTsea. Months ago, as we were planning our trip for 6 of us, Christi (owner of BlueXTsea and scubaboard supporter) helped us decide to rent a 4br 4ba condo at El Cantil. For our purposes it was the perfect choice, as we had 3 adults and 2 teens planning on coming on the trip. The unit we have has 3br with king beds, and 1br with 2 double beds in it. (again, perfect for our needs) This ended up being less expensive than 3 "waterfront" rooms at a hotel right in town (actually streetfront is a better description)
El Cantil is located directly across the street from Chedraui, which puts you near enough to town to walk wherever you need to go. The check-in went very smoothly, they sent with us a very nice assistant to familiarize us with the property and amenities. We are very happy with the condo, it is immaculate, extremely roomy and well appointed. I would estimate that the unit is about 2000 sq. ft. The fully equipped kitchen makes the grocery store across the street so much more valuable. The sink has a purified water tap, as does the icemaker in the freezer.
Each unit has a spa on the deck, which is waterfront, great for a quick soak after diving. (I must not use flipper muscles on the treadmill at home..) Nice patio furniture, tables and lounge chairs. Each bedroom has access to a balcony, 2 to the water and 2 to town. The norte building is nice because you have a waterfront view and a view to the north to the cruise ship docks and downtown. The south building you get the water view, but the north view for them is a good look at the south side of the north building.
The unit we rented advertised flat screen tv's in every room. So here's a couple of things....they are flat screen (but you, like me, assumed flat panel....right?). You also may have assumed that having a TV also meant that you would have cable to the tv, right? nope, just dvd's in the rooms. The very large flat panel in the living room does have dish network though. This is not a big deal, and my assumptions were incorrect, not their representations. The maid service is perfect, by the time we get back from diving the place is cleaned, dishes done with new bath towels and new beach towels.
The A/C works REALLY well, we've come back with the place way too cold because we're used to cranking the a/c's in other places we've stayed to the max for it to keep up. The facilities are top notch, very well maintained, and for some reason seem to be empty this week.
Now for the diving related report..... It honestly could not be any easier to dive from here. BlueXTsea picks us up at the dock just under our balcony in the morning. When we return, it is literally 15 steps to the fresh water rinse tank, 10 steps to the El Cantil provided locker to hang our wetsuits, and then 10 steps to the freshwater pool and spa. All of us here have decided that we cannot come to Cozumel and stay anywhere else from now on. We feel that we have our whole Cozumel trip dialed in between El Cantil and BlueXTsea.
Just so you know:
None of us are drinkers, there is no bar here on the beach.
We're not big partiers, there is no "action" happening at the El Cantil.
We don't care for large crowds and all that goes with that.
We don't mind spending a little more, if the value is apparent, here it is very apparent to us.
We've stayed at VillaBlanca and Casa Mexicana before, so you know what our experience has been like. (we'd do CM again if we couldn't be here, NOT VB)
The 3 adults on the trip all agree that we could bring our wives back to the El Cantil and being nondivers, they would still really enjoy the accommodations and amenities.
There are many other configurations of El Cantil units available, we chose this one because of the bed layout, and we're happy.
There is wireless in the unit, that's what I'm using now.
Some units advertise free long distance using a Vonage service, don't plan on it working very well at all. The connection speed isn't blazing, and our Vonage has not worked.
El Cantil is located directly across the street from Chedraui, which puts you near enough to town to walk wherever you need to go. The check-in went very smoothly, they sent with us a very nice assistant to familiarize us with the property and amenities. We are very happy with the condo, it is immaculate, extremely roomy and well appointed. I would estimate that the unit is about 2000 sq. ft. The fully equipped kitchen makes the grocery store across the street so much more valuable. The sink has a purified water tap, as does the icemaker in the freezer.
Each unit has a spa on the deck, which is waterfront, great for a quick soak after diving. (I must not use flipper muscles on the treadmill at home..) Nice patio furniture, tables and lounge chairs. Each bedroom has access to a balcony, 2 to the water and 2 to town. The norte building is nice because you have a waterfront view and a view to the north to the cruise ship docks and downtown. The south building you get the water view, but the north view for them is a good look at the south side of the north building.
The unit we rented advertised flat screen tv's in every room. So here's a couple of things....they are flat screen (but you, like me, assumed flat panel....right?). You also may have assumed that having a TV also meant that you would have cable to the tv, right? nope, just dvd's in the rooms. The very large flat panel in the living room does have dish network though. This is not a big deal, and my assumptions were incorrect, not their representations. The maid service is perfect, by the time we get back from diving the place is cleaned, dishes done with new bath towels and new beach towels.
The A/C works REALLY well, we've come back with the place way too cold because we're used to cranking the a/c's in other places we've stayed to the max for it to keep up. The facilities are top notch, very well maintained, and for some reason seem to be empty this week.
Now for the diving related report..... It honestly could not be any easier to dive from here. BlueXTsea picks us up at the dock just under our balcony in the morning. When we return, it is literally 15 steps to the fresh water rinse tank, 10 steps to the El Cantil provided locker to hang our wetsuits, and then 10 steps to the freshwater pool and spa. All of us here have decided that we cannot come to Cozumel and stay anywhere else from now on. We feel that we have our whole Cozumel trip dialed in between El Cantil and BlueXTsea.
Just so you know:
None of us are drinkers, there is no bar here on the beach.
We're not big partiers, there is no "action" happening at the El Cantil.
We don't care for large crowds and all that goes with that.
We don't mind spending a little more, if the value is apparent, here it is very apparent to us.
We've stayed at VillaBlanca and Casa Mexicana before, so you know what our experience has been like. (we'd do CM again if we couldn't be here, NOT VB)
The 3 adults on the trip all agree that we could bring our wives back to the El Cantil and being nondivers, they would still really enjoy the accommodations and amenities.
There are many other configurations of El Cantil units available, we chose this one because of the bed layout, and we're happy.
There is wireless in the unit, that's what I'm using now.
Some units advertise free long distance using a Vonage service, don't plan on it working very well at all. The connection speed isn't blazing, and our Vonage has not worked.
Certainly this is the largest shower I've been in in a rental unit anywhere.
